To Find Love
by animefanxxx
Summary: - AU - After Sasuke finds the truth about Itachi he doesn't know what to do anymore until someone tells him of a secret wife Itachi had. Sasuke makes a decision to redeem himself for the death of his brother which forever alters his life... and along the way finds himself with a new family and the future love of his life...
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello everyone! First if all, this will be my first Naruto fanfic so I don't know how this will turn out and I hope that anyone who is going to pursue reading this will enjoy this story.**

**Second of all this story is sort of AU; it is set after Sasuke kills Itachi, however there have been a few adjustments in which Sasuke DOES NOT join Akatsuki and that "Tobi" has not taken Sasuke to heal. Sasuke has also found out the truth about Itachi, however the information did not come from "Tobi" instead he finds it via another source.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! (Wish I did though!) **

**To Find love **

**Chapter 1 – Prologue**

He felt hollow and empty.

He was alone.

He was tired.

He couldn't sleep at night, often finding himself tossing and turning endlessly whilst his teammates slept peacefully beside him. The only sound he could register were Karin's gentle breathing, Suigetsu's irritating groans and Juugo's deep snoring rumbling through the room. Tonight was one such occasion when Sasuke found that insomnia had struck again…and he was getting sick of it.

These days Sasuke noticed that he rarely drifted off but when he did, probably somewhere in the early morning, images of his brother's bloodied smiling face appeared in his memories, haunting him like a ghost and the last words he had uttered to Sasuke resonated in his mind like an echo.

_Forgive me Sasuke… …It ends with this._

He remembered the details of Itachi's last moments so well. From the rough line that ran through the Konohakagure forehead protector that rested mockingly on his forehead to the bruised and battered skin of Itachi's face. But most importantly the ambivalent look in Itachi's eyes as his blooded lips curled into a smile.

The soft tap of Itachi's finger had also seemed to also imprint itself on Sasuke's forehead, forever imbedding itself into the young raven headed boy's memories and usually that was what would wake him from his light slumber.

Sasuke hadn't slept in well over 2 days nor had he eaten properly and his body and mind were starting to feel the effects. Karin had told him that if he didn't sleep or eat soon he would collapse of exhaustion and his body would automatically shut down into a comatose state as a way of regenerating himself to recover after the battle he'd been through with Itachi as well as trying to preserve the little energy he had left. Of course Sasuke had known something like this was bound to happen but he also knew deep down that he would be happier if he stayed in a comatose state.

His appearance hadn't been much better off either. His hair was all over his eyes and had lost that once gravity defying ability to it. His eyes had black rings around them that got darker with each passing day and they sagged like he was an elderly man. His cheek bones had become more prominent now that he had almost stopped eating altogether and his skin was a lot paler than it had been initially.

Suigetsu had laughed at his dreary appearance and stated that he looked like the ghost of Christmas past though everyone knew that Suigetsu was only trying to keep up happy appearances for the sake of the team. It wasn't like Sasuke paid attention to him either.

Karin on the other hand had proceeded to punch Suigetsu whenever he had made any remarks about Sasuke's appearance, though she too was trying to keep up normal routine appearances as it had once been before. She had constantly tried to get Sasuke to eat by feeding him herself, but she was nearly on the verge of giving up when every time he turned his head away and grumbled moodily that he wasn't hungry before stalking off back into the inn.

Juugo was the only one who was sympathizing with him. He understood of the pain Sasuke was going through seeing as he suffered a similar fate regarding Kimimaro. Juugo had told him that Kimimaro was like a brother to him and that he too felt the same way Sasuke was feeling currently when he heard of Kimimaro's passing. Sasuke had lied and pretended that Juugo's presence was making him feel a little better. In truth Sasuke didn't think Juugo understood one bit about the complex relationship of his brotherhood with Itachi. Why? Because Kimimaro was never really related to Juugo by blood. They were not truly bonded the way Sasuke was with, with Itachi.

Sasuke found life was not worth living anymore. Itachi had been everything to him; his whole life had almost evolved around Itachi's existence even when he had not found out about the truth of Itachi's life.

It was approaching 5 in the morning and Sasuke found that he still hadn't drifted off. Instead he found himself flat on his back under a thick futon thinking deeply about his life.

Sasuke had never been the one to fret about his life. When he was with Orochimaru, he had always concentrated on training and becoming more powerful in order to beat his brother. Though tonight was different and it pissed him off to no end.

Sasuke thought about many diverse topics. He thought about his past, his present and his future. He thought about all the wrongs he had done in his life, about whether he'd make anymore incredibly stupid decisions. He thought about his mum, his dad and his life in Konoha before everything had become a huge mess. He thought about Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi.

Sasuke sighed and threw his arm to cover his eyes from any light that would escape through the window of the room Team Taka was staying in. He felt something in the pit of his stomach swirl and coil giving him a very sick feeling to add on top of his tiredness.

Was Konoha the same as it had been before he left? Would they accept him with open arms if he was to turn back now?

Sasuke scowled abruptly when his thoughts drifted off to the blonde haired Kyuubi.

How was Naruto? How much stronger had he become now? Had Naruto given up on bringing him back to Konoha or was he still trying like the fool he was?

It sickened him to think that he was almost thinking _endearingly_ about the dobe despite the fact that no one was around to watch him whilst he was in deep thought.

He scowled again, muttering a quiet, "Damn dobe…"

It wasn't long before his thoughts wondered to Itachi again. If an afterlife existed, Sasuke briefly wondered if Itachi was gazing down upon him down. Was he proud of Sasuke, or was he pitying him?

Had he found their parents and were they watching over him together?

Tears began to sting his eyes as his thoughts crossed the image of his family. His mother smiling subtly at the camera whilst his dad stood, with his arms crossed, tall and proud of his family and Itachi who had look normal and stoic as usual, no emotions splayed on his face.

Then finally, Sasuke let out a silent heartbroken cry from his lips.

**…**

It had been roughly 8am when Juugo had woken up. The sun rays had gently stirred him awake from his sleep and he lay staring up at the ceiling for a minute or too. After a while, Juugo slowly sat up, gently sliding the futon blankets off his chest until it pooled down at his waist. The first thing he turned to was Sasuke, only to be met with an empty space and an unfolded futon.

Out of habit he began to panic, desperately looking around the room for any trace of Sasuke's presence.

He caught sight of Sasuke's small pouch and breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Sasuke would never leave without that pouch.

If Sasuke wasn't here, then where was he? Juugo frowned and proceeded to get up before tip toeing quietly towards the sliding door in order to avoid waking up Karin and Suigetsu. He slid the door with ease and slipped past it before closing the sliding door again after having a small peek to check if his teammates had been disturbed by the rustling of his movements.

Juugo decided to check if Sasuke was in the Hot Springs; he wasn't, but from the Hot Springs he could make out a familiar shade of black hair on the other side of the fence through the steam. He smiled softly before making his way to the garden.

Sasuke, who was dressed in his usual attire, had been sitting on a rock looking up into the sky had not moved or flinched at the sounds Juugo was making. Usually he was always on his toes and would have drawn his Chokuto from its sheath before appearing behind the intruder, but today Juugo noticed he was unaware or his presence.

"Sasuke?" he asked with caution.

For a moment Sasuke continued to stare into the sky as if he hadn't heard Juugo and when Juugo opened his mouth to try calling out for him again, Sasuke finally acknowledged his presence with a grunt.

"Sasuke, what are you doing out here?"

There was no reply again from the Uchiha as he continued to stare airily into the sky with his arms resting on his legs.

"Sasuke, you should go back to sleep. Karin says that if you continue like this it's going to kill you." He warned softly.

Much to his surprise the young Uchiha replied with a murmur, "It would be better that way."

Juugo frowned, understanding that he didn't want him around and turned to leave when Sasuke spoke out again, his voice holding an edge of sorrow to it, "Juugo…"

He turned around, "Yes?"

Sasuke turned his head to the orange headed man, his eyes looking tired and forlorn before he quietly murmured, "Do you think I'll ever get the chance to redeem myself for killing Itachi?"

The man did not know how to respond. It was so unusual for Sasuke to talk about his personal feelings or about his family in general and after the elder Uchiha's death Sasuke had grown even more distant from Team Taka. Juugo thought for a moment, his eyebrows knitting together in thought before he replied, "I'm sure somewhere there will be an opportunity to do so. Just be sure to grab the chance before it goes away."

Sasuke stared at him blankly, his onyx eyes staring drearily at Juugo's form before he turned his head and resumed staring into the sky.

Juugo took this as a queue to leave and he slowly slipped out of the garden before deciding to wake Karin and Suigetsu up.

**…**

It was fair to say the least that Karin was not happy with the way Suigetsu had woke her up. Currently she was dripping wet in her futon and kimono whilst glaring at a howling Suigetsu who was propped up bonelessly in the corner of the room.

"YOU WANNA DIE FREAKING ASSHOLE?" she screamed before lunging towards the Hozuki.

Suigetsu, sensing an impending threat dodged to the left and watched as Karin struggled to scramble back up, he grinned, "So clumsy."

Karin threw a punch to his face only to find that he liquefied himself. Throwing more punches despite the fact that they weren't doing him any harm due to his ability to turn to water she screamed out in rage, "COME FACE ME LIKE A MAN YOU BITCH."

Suigetsu only continued to smirk, punch after punch. She was way too easy to rile up. It was then that Juugo decided to intervene and spoil his fun, "Karin, calm down. Suigetsu, stop antagonizing Karin."

Karin withdrew, folding her arms with a huff, clearly unhappy that Suigetsu's face hadn't been disfigured one bit whilst Suigetsu merely sat up with a proud smirk on his face, his jagged teeth sticking out in front of his bottom lip.

It was then Karin noticed Sasuke hadn't stopped their fighting and that Juugo had. She glanced to Sasuke's futon, only to find no one there, "Juugo, where's Sasuke?"

Suigetsu, who had picked up on this also glanced at Sasuke's empty futon. Juugo merely frowned, "He's sitting outside in the garden."

Suigetsu sighed, folding his arms behind his head, "He's doing it again. He's been acting like this for days."

Karin, who was growing increasingly worried about Sasuke's health bit her lip, "He didn't sleep last night did he?"

Juugo nodded his head in response as he began folding the blankets.

"How long is he going to stay like this?" Suigetsu wondered aloud.

"No one knows what he's really thinking but if he's going to continue like this he really will die." Karin said, a tone of fear etched in her voice. "Maybe someone should go and talk to him?" she suggested after a moment.

Suigetsu smirked at her, "You just wanna be alone with him."

She growled, "WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU WATER FACED BASTARD?"

Karin was prepared to attack Suigetsu again when Juugo murmured out, "I think we should leave him to think for a while."

Karin lowered her arms, whilst Suigetsu huffed, "He's been doing that a lot lately. I think any longer and he's going to go insane."

"Suigetsu's right, Juugo. It's not safe to leave him alone." Karin added softly.

Juugo paused his folding, "No, this time we really should leave him be."

In the end Suigetsu and Karin reluctantly agreed to give Sasuke space for a bit and headed down for breakfast.

**…**

After more than an hour of sitting on the rock in the garden Sasuke found himself wandering through the bustling streets of the town. Wandering aimlessly in the midst of people, when finally his leg led him to a traditional Japanese café. Café's like these were Itachi's favourite. Sasuke stared up at the sign. In golden letters it read 'The Sakura Tree'.

_Sakura…_

_Haruno Sakura …_

For a moment Sasuke pondered over his memories of the pink headed girl before he stepped into the Café. Inside it smelt of fresh sandalwood despite the busy tables.

It was then a woman in a black kimono decorated with pink cherry blossoms and a matching red Obi tied securely round her waist, approached him. Her slick back hair had been tied up into a tight bun that was sporting a pair of jewel embroidered chopsticks. She was probably no older than 20 or so. Sasuke gazed into her eyes and found a familiar shade of apple green.

She smiled at him, "How can I help sir?"

Sasuke stood by the doorway, unable to respond. The lady smiled in an understanding way and proceeded to grab a menu in the corner of a nearby table, "Table for 1, this way sir."

She shuffled off in pursuit of a table, here clogs clacking lightly against the wooden floor. Sasuke followed behind her silently until she reached a table in the corner of the room away from the talkative people present in the room. The young woman placed the menu on the table before she turned to Sasuke and smiled, "Enjoy, sir." She bowed her head and walked off to serve other customers that had walked into the café.

Sasuke sat down wordlessly on the table he'd been assigned to and stared aimlessly at the paintings that hung on the wall of the Café. Sasuke had no intention of ordering any food. He didn't even know what he was doing here or why he'd come here in the first place.

He didn't know how much time had passed when the woman approached him again, he didn't look up when she spoke to him, "You have a friend sir."

What on earth did she mean by that?

It was then a hooded figure slid onto the bench opposite him. With a low voice the figure replied to the waitress, "Thank you for your help."

The woman smiled brightly and nodded before she headed off again. Sasuke couldn't see the persons face or any human features peeking out from beneath the hood. He only knew this person was a man judging from the low voice.

He frowned, "Who the fuck are you?"

If 'he' was a spy for the Akatsuki or Konoha he was definitely in no mood or position to fight.

The 'man' did not answer his question, "Are you Uchiha Sasuke, younger sibling of Uchiha Itachi?"

Sasuke growled, "What of it?"

"I have invaluable information for you." The figure said slowly in a low voice.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed before he stood up, preparing to leave, "I am not interested."

Before he could even leave his table the hooded figure said something that caught his attention, "It regards your older brother Uchiha Itachi."

Sasuke froze, for a minute he considered possibilities related to Itachi. There was false hope as he naively began to think of the impossible. Perhaps…somehow…Itachi survived the battle after Sasuke had been rescued by Team Taka. Juugo had told him when he'd woken up at the inn that he'd passed out when they found him and when Sasuke inquired whether he really had killed Itachi he had told him they hadn't seen his body around. Karin had confirmed that his chakra was no longer around so he was most definitely dead, no one had argued with the facts. Itachi Uchiha was definitely dead. Sasuke began to wonder if Karin had been wrong and deep down inside he was clinging on to the hope that his brother was… alive somewhere.

"Interested?" The hooded figure inquired.

Sasuke slide back down onto the chair and glared at the man opposite him, "What news of my brother?"

"My, straight to the chase aren't we?" The man inquired.

"If it regards my brother, I don't have time to waste."Sasuke almost spat out.

The man shuffled around in his cloak before clearing his throat, "I have heard you have killed your brother but in the process you have also learnt about the truth about his 'double life'," the ma started, "but you haven't heard of everything about him."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "Oh? What is there that I couldn't possibly know?"

"The life he had when he was with Akatsuki."

Sasuke found himself, suddenly interested in something that he'd been longing for in days.

"When your brother left Konoha, he also met someone along the way." The man began again. He paused before talking again, "It is said this person was of a similar age to Itachi and a female civilian of Konoha but lives on the very outskirts of Konoha by the ocean. Your brother had apparently collapsed of exhaustion in front of her home and she took him in, tending to his…wounds." The man paused and then admitted a confession, "I do not know what happened between the two but all I know is that your brother, at some point, wedded this woman."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "What? That's…That's…" he paused, anger rising within him. How dare this man mock him and make fun of his brother. How dare he!

"Stop fucking around with me. Do I look stupid? What do you take me for? A fool?!" Sasuke bellowed out startling a few customers around him.

The man held up his gloved hands in an attempt to calm the enraged Uchiha down, "In all respects Uchiha, I do not intend to take anyone for a fool or upset you in anyway. If you chose not to believe me, then that it up to you but have sufficient evidence that my story is true. This will be your chance to redeem yourself."

Sasuke froze again. How on earth did this man know everything? Just who was he?

The man continued, "As I said, I do not know enough to tell you what happened between the two or when this relationship developed. What I do know was this was kept secret from the Akatsuki and that between the activities of the Akatsuki, he often visited her in secret without his partner, Kisame Hoshigaki." He cleared his throat again, "There are other… further developments. I do not know for sure but according to my sources, this woman, has conceived a child. I do not know when or how old this child is."

Sasuke didn't know what to say. This was all surreal to him. This man…really was making fun of him, wasn't he? The man was mocking him, taking him for a fool.

But then there was a small part of him that was telling him that perhaps this was all possible, that perhaps the man wasn't lying at that somewhere out there, there was a small part of Itachi left other than himself. He remembered Juugo's words to him in the garden.

"_I'm sure somewhere there will be an opportunity to do so. Just be sure to grab the chance before it goes away."_

This was it. A chance and he had to grab it. Cautiously he looked at the man and asked, "Why are you telling me this?" This man could have told anyone but chose to meet him. What was he after, money?

The answer the man supplied had not been the one he was expecting, "Because I understand your pain only too well."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "How do I know you're not lying? That you're not lying about everything? That if I intend to go and meet this woman it's not some kind of ambush or plot to kill me."

"It is up to you whether you believe me or not. But I have convincing evidence."

Sasuke glared at the man, "Go on then. Where's the evidence?"

The man slipped his black gloved hand inside his cloak, Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the movement in case the man pulled out a Kunai or Shuriken. To his surprise he pulled out a piece of laminated sort of paper and placed it on the table. It took Sasuke a second to realize it was a photo. The man pushed the photo forward towards Sasuke with two fingers. Sasuke could say that he was fairly shocked…or surprised. However it wasn't the photo that surprised him, it was who was in the photo. Sasuke craned his neck in to glance at the photo in front of him.

The sky was blue and clear and the trees were a luscious green. There was a beautiful raven headed woman with golden eyes; her features were strikingly similar to his mother's aside from the colour of her eyes. She was leaning against someone much taller than herself, her thin arms curling around the second person's waist and when Sasuke's eyes trailed up to the man's face he was met with the unmistakable features of his own brother. Uchiha Itachi.

There was no denying it, it was Itachi. The eyelashes, the long hair and ponytail draped on his shoulders casually, the long tear troughs. It was definitely hard to mistake this person for anyone else.

As far as Sasuke could see the woman looked…happy. And a closer look at Itachi's eyes seemed to confirm that he too was happy though there was something more hidden in Itachi's onyx eyes. Sasuke realized that in the photo, as Itachi gazed down adoringly at the oblivious woman beside him, it was love.

Itachi's arm was draped protectively around the women's shoulder, as if pulling her closer. His attire consisted of his ANBU uniform sans the grey flak jacket. The woman was wearing a ¾ length grey shirt and an apron, just like his mothers.

Finally Sasuke had enough and turned his head away from the photo. He felt like crying, but not out of sadness, out of a feeling that there was_ hope_.

Hope to redeem himself.

Hope that Itachi had left something behind in the world.

He bit his lip as his eyes glazed over and turned to the man, who was standing up to take his leave. Before he left, Sasuke managed to call out, "How do you know all of this?"

The man didn't respond for a minute and then he replied slowly but quietly, "I just happened to be a passerby."

And then Sasuke watched silently, through ear glazed eyes, as the man slipped out of the café with grace and disappeared into the shadows.

**…**

It was roughly 7 in the evening when Sasuke returned to Team Taka. None of them knew where he was or where he went but they noticed something different about him. His eyes had suddenly brightened a little, as if there was something that had brought him happiness.

Sasuke had remained impassive and unresponsive however they were pleased that at least he had taken his first bite of a proper meal in _days_. Something had definitely changed but no one had the nerve to question him, instead they resumed normal routines in the inn and it wasn't long before all members were fast asleep…except Sasuke.

Quietly getting up and getting changed from his robe, he made sure to make no sudden movements that would cause any loud sounds. He strapped on his pouch onto his waist before withdrawing a folded letter, which he had previously written when his teammates took a bath, and wedged it under Juugo's pillow with ease.

Sasuke made his way to the inn windows before steeping on the window seal and crouching down.

This was it.

He was leaving Team Taka and everything else for good.

He was finally going to meet Itachi's wife.

Sasuke spared one last glance at his sleeping team members before he turned to look up to the blackened sky and the luminous moon. His hand clenched on the photo the man had given to him in the café.

Then his foot sprung him to the air where he disappeared in to the night sky. Never to be seen by his team mates again…

* * *

A/N: And there you have a prologue of my story. I hope you will review and constructive criticism is always welcome. You are also free to PM if nothing is clear and I will PM you back to explain whatever it is you don't understand.


	2. The Secret Wife and Child

**A/N: Yes, I know, this was a relatively fast update but I just couldn't sleep at night knowing that Sasuke has yet to meet his new family. My hands were simply itching to get this chapter done. My eyes are sagging due to mild insomnia but at least this Chapter is up!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. (Wish I did though; Kakashi would totally be mine! XD)**

**To Find Love **

**Chapter 2 – The Secret Wife and Child**

The skies were starting to turn grey as clouds began to gather. A thunderstorm was imminent to happen judging from the way the clouds clumped together and darkened in colour significantly.

Sasuke was only a day away from Konoha. It was the first time in his life that he was going to travel along this route. He never really thought he'd be going back, but it was bound to happen knowing somehow that Naruto was probably going to drag him back either way.

So far Team Taka hadn't come after him, which meant that they had probably read the contents of the letter and heeded his warning.

Suigetsu was probably quite happy with his new freedom and knowing him, he was most likely to be out and about searching for those damned swords.

Juugo would be less optimistic but he would in some form be happy due the contents of the letter, and Karin…well, she was definitely miserable and beating the crap out of Suigetsu like a punch bag.

The contents of the letter he had left behind had been fairly straight forward. He had told of Itachi's life and his pursuit for Itachi's wife. He had stated Team Taka was now officially disbanded and he had also warned if anyone tried to come after him (not that he gave the location of where this wife was) he wouldn't hesitate to kill them seeing as how they were no longer a team.

He'd been running for almost 24 hours and several hours into the next day he felt like his legs were going to fucking drop off any minute. However he decided that he wasn't going to give up this chance to meet any possible Uchiha members, especially a family of Itachi's.

Sasuke wondered what the woman would be like. He hadn't been old enough to know what Itachi's type was when they were younger, not that he was curious anyway.

Perhaps she was gentle and welcoming like his mother seeing as how most of the woman's features were extraordinarily similar.

He wondered how she would act when she saw him, after all he and Itachi shared many traits. Would she be confused?

Did she even know Itachi was dead?

And how would she react if she found out that his own _brother _had killed him?

Sasuke decided to not dwell on the matter any further and after what seemed like hours it slowly began to rain. His clothes were heavily soaked and made it annoyingly harder for him to walk. The linen had absorbed the water so quickly and stuck onto his body like glue.

At some point Sasuke had been reduced to walking. His legs were tired, he was tired. He hadn't realised how hard it really was to travel to Konoha just by foot without proper sleep or food.

As he looked straight ahead his vision began to blur and then refocus. He blinked, they blurred again into a swirl of colours and then finally darkness overcame him.

**…**

Where was he? Was he finally dead?

He flexed his toes only to find they were very much in pain from all the running, which confirmed that he most certainly was not dead. He winced as he flexed them back.

Slowly he began to open his eyes. The world seemed hazy, in a blur of splotches, but as his vision slowly began to clear he found himself staring at a wooden ceiling fan above him.

Where on earth was he?

It took a minute to process he was lying flat on his back, a think blanket covering his body.

It took another minute to process that he had no clothes on, other than his boxers.

Immediately he sat up and tried to take in his surroundings. He could see he was very much in a bedroom. There wasn't much in the room except for a few boxes neatly stacked in the corner or so. The walls were cream white but bare and he could see that cobwebs had started accumulating in the corners of the room which suggested that this room had not been utilized in a while. The window was open which allowed a breeze to roll in but the sliding door to his left had been shut.

Sasuke frowned. Was he being held captive?

Then he shook his head, what kind of a kidnapper would leave him in such a 'free' area, and half nude at that.

His mind tried to scramble for details on what happened during his course to Konoha. He had been walking in the rain and then… and then what?

Had he been ambushed?

No, that wouldn't explain what he was doing here.

Perhaps he'd been knocked out and robbed before some Good Samaritan took him in.

It hadn't taken long for him to ponder over the theory because suddenly footsteps could be heard coming his way, jarring him from his train of thought, and before he knew it he was pressed up against the wall next to it, prepared to attack whoever it was that came through the door.

The door gave a jerk, his eyes narrowed on the fingers curling around the edge of the door as they slowly pushed it open. It all seemed so slow.

What he expected to find on the other side of the door was most certainly the one he least expected. In fact it was the very person he was searching for and in his surprise he held his breath.

Itachi's wife.

She stepped into the room with caution until she stopped at the futon, only to find that it was as empty as the room. Thoroughly confused she turned around, preparing to leave, when her eyes met dark onyx ones. She almost screamed at the sight of a half naked pale Uchiha standing in the corner looking ready to murder any living organism on the planet.

She gasped a little, taking deep breaths to calm her rapidly beating heart as she kept her eyes locked onto his face.

Sasuke merely watched as she placed a hand calmly on her chest. She was young, very young, probably only 20 or so, according to the man Itachi had wedded a wife similar to his age. Well he could have age check ticked of his list in his head.

After a minute of what seemed like a staring contest she smiled, "I'm sorry; I'm not used to strangers in my home."

Her voice was, he believed, very soft and comforting however being as stubborn and cautious as he was he made no reaction or movements to suggest he was being friendly.

She continued to smile and held out bundle of neatly folded black silk that was clutched in her other hand, "Here, put this on. You must be cold."

Sasuke didn't utter a word as he held out his hand for the material and she slipped it into his hand with a sheepish smile, "I'm sorry but your clothes were wet and I had to wash them. They're hanging out to dry at the moment. I hadn't expected you to wake up this early, but I guess that's a good thing." She approached him slowly before informing him gently, "You've been out cold for nearly a day."

Sasuke grunted as he unfolded the material and slipped the silk robe on. It fit him perfectly much to his surprise. It also smelled vaguely familiar…

She grinned happily, "I thought it would fit."

Sasuke frowned. She only gave a light chuckle in response. "It's my husbands, you two look around the same in size." She explained.

Well that explained the smell. The way she spoke of Itachi made it sound like he was still alive. Sasuke scowled. Then again there was always a chance that he got the wrong person that coincidently looked the same as the woman or maybe the man he'd met back at the café was a complete liar. The asshole…

Her smile dropped, as she stared at him curiously, "Is there something that displeases you?"

Sasuke continued to glare at her, never making an effort to respond in any way.

Sasuke observed her from head to toe. _This_ was the person who Itachi _married_?

Well to be fair, she was extraordinarily beautiful and despite her short frame of 5ft 2, she was thin but not undesirably so. Her skin was just the right shade; pale but with the right amount of peach added in there. Her hair was long and silky, flowing gracefully down her back and her golden eyes were bright and alive. The picture in his pouch could not do her true justice.

However it seemed that it was her personality that annoyed him. She seemed…annoyingly chatty, a total 180 flip from Itachi, who was stoic, quiet, calm and collected.

To his surprise apparently she had, had enough of his pessimistic attitude. She pouted, folding her arms across her chest emphasizing just how _curvy_ she really was, "Is that the kind of behaviour you treat to someone who _saved _your life?"

Sasuke continued to glare at her.

"Fine! Don't answer me! Just glare like a freaking retard for all I care!"

Then he snapped and bit back a venomous reply, "I am not retarded and I was not dying."

She looked shock and was taken aback by his sudden abrupt yelling, but more so by the hostility in his voice towards her. Sasuke himself was quite shocked by his sudden outburst. The two found themselves standing in the room alone quietly, looking at each other curiously when Sasuke's stomach suddenly rumbled out loud.

The woman laughed whilst Sasuke looked utterly disgusted with himself for letting his body make such a traitorous sound. He couldn't be any more humiliated.

She grinned, "I'm guessing you're hungry?"

Sasuke still didn't respond.

"Just in time too. I made some omusubi."

Sasuke's eyes brightened up to the prospect of food, and his favourite type at that.

She turned to leave the room before quietly adding, "Follow me."

Sasuke hesitated for a minute or two, considering if she perhaps would poison him and after analyzing her personality it seemed she was not the kind of person to do such an act.

Grudgingly he followed her along the hallway of the house and down the stairs. The house was fairly large considering she lived here alone (so he had assumed due to the quietness of the house), however it was indeed quite grand like the Uchiha Mansions. Perhaps with Itachi's hidden riches, he'd paid for this house.

Sasuke had no time to look around as she nearly disappeared round the corner of the stairs, he hastened his pace and eventually he reached a dining room, where on the table laid a plate of steaming rice balls wrapped in small bits of seaweed.

Sasuke stared at the food on the table and swallowed. He was undeniably hungry and his chakra levels were almost depleted due to his journey here.

The woman who had disappeared into another room came back out with a plate of sliced tomatoes and okaka, both of which were coincidently Sasuke's favourite to have with omusubi.

She smiled sheepishly as she had done so before, when she placed the food down beside the rice balls, "I'm sorry, I didn't really know what you wanted to eat and I had already made some rice balls this morning so I figured there was no point in cooking anything else."

She noted that Sasuke hadn't sat down, "Come and sit down. I'll go and make some tea."

Before he could even argue, she disappeared again into the room she had gone to, to retrieve the tomatoes and okaka. Reluctantly Sasuke sat down and stared at the food and with shaky cold hands he picked up the chopsticks and began to take a small bite from a rice ball. He chewed thoroughly before swallowing.

It tasted good. He wouldn't deny that.

The woman appeared minutes later holding a tray balancing two cups and a steaming pot. She smiled upon seeing that Sasuke was eating.

Sasuke was not oblivious to the fact that the woman had slid onto a chair opposite him and was watching him eat whilst she set the two cups down and poured out the tea.

"So…Do you have a name?" She inquired softly as she put down the tea pot.

Sasuke, who was currently chewing on a tomato, mumbled out a reply before continuing to eat.

The woman laughed, "Sasuke. That's a good name, just like the Third Hokage's father." She sighed, blissfully unaware that, that was where Sasuke's name had derived from. She smiled again, "I'm Misako. Uchiha Misako."

Sasuke didn't fail to notice how similar her name sounded to his mothers, Uchiha Mikoto. He almost smirked.

"And Sasuke, just how old are you?"

He really was reluctant to speak but perhaps if he'd answer enough questions she'd do most of the talking.

"Sixteen" he responded in a low voice.

She grinned, "You're only 4 years younger than me!"

Well that confirmed how old she was, she was only a year younger than Itachi. Sasuke noticed the way her eyes brightened when he spoke. Despite the annoying part of her character she was most certainly interesting for an individual. Perhaps this was what Itachi had thought too.

"And do you have any siblings, Sasuke?"

Sasuke paused his movements before mumbling out another response, "None."

Well it was true in some way. Itachi was no longer alive anymore.

"Oh?" She said, raising an eyebrow as if expecting more. It was just her luck to be stuck with an emotionally constipated individual who would most definitely not be giving out details about his family. Sasuke took a sip of his warm tea as he watched her with interest.

Her features sudden saddened a little as her eyes lowered as if she were recalling a memory, "I had a sibling. But I lost him in a fire. He was declared dead despite the fact that they never found his body."

She sighed a little, leaning on the palm of her hand, "I'd lost so many people in my life-time. My mother passed away at a young age and my father perished in the Third Great Shinobi War."

No doubt this woman had caught his attention fully. Sasuke made out that he wasn't too interested in what she had to say while he sprinkled some of the dried fish onto his rice balls.

"I was so lost for so long. I was alone and it felt awful." Her face contorted into a hurt expression, like she didn't want the experience to happen again. In some ways Sasuke felt he could relate to that feeling. That emptiness and that hollowness. Indeed it was an awful feeling.

"And then I met my husband." She sighed longingly but as far as Sasuke could see, she was happy at the mere fact of mentioning Itachi, "It's funny, he reacted the same way you did. I don't think he liked me very much but he still had to stay with me until his wounds recovered."

Sasuke found himself leaning in to take in more of her story. The food apparently having been forgotten.

She giggled lightly, "Despite not liking me very much he was still a gentleman, always helping whenever I needed help." Her eyes looked as if the reminiscing in the old times, "We grew so much closer over time and he often shared his stories in trade for mine."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Did Itachi tell her about his clan's massacre?

"I don't know when it happened but I realized I had fallen in love with him." The way she said that was honestly believable. Her eyes softened and so did her voice. "It was hard to understand why I fell in love with such a person and it was difficult to cope with but I finally decided one night that my feelings had to be clear and so I confessed my feelings for him." She laughed.

"He was quite shocked; I think he didn't really know what to do. Then he told me he was a very bad person and that I deserved someone much better than himself. He told me a lot about the dark bits of his past, how he hailed from the great Uchiha clan and that he had killed everyone." Her hands moved down to warm themselves around her teacup as she looked into the liquid at her own reflection, "It didn't take me long to get over it. I told him that he must have done it for a purpose and I could tell that it wasn't his fault entirely. I could see that he was truly miserable because of the act and that he didn't want to do it."

Sasuke found himself becoming jealous of the woman's ability to read emotions better than himself. It took Sasuke 16 years to know his brother, yet he still couldn't tell that Itachi was upset about the killing. She was only with him for a short time yet she was able to read him perfectly.

"I could tell he was still surprised that I hadn't run off screaming to the authorities. But I don't believe in things like that. I believed I second chances and he most definitely deserved a chance."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. She was one of _those_ people. People who were too soft for their own good and usually got hurt too many times to count. He loathed those people.

"I could tell he was struggling to cope with his feelings for me. I don't think he'd ever experienced anything quite like love." She chuckled, "He often tried to be romantic and it always ended up in a disaster. There were usually a lot of…injuries involved."

Sasuke couldn't stop the smirk appearing from his lips. The mere thought of Itachi trying to hand over a dozen roses to a girl was quite entertaining.

"We had a huge argument about the fact that he couldn't do anything right without cocking it up for me and in a fit of yelling he suddenly screamed out he wanted to marry me."

Sasuke sighed. Well that was certainly a new way of proposing to a woman. Trust his brother to be unique.

"Being as young as I was, I was ecstatic and accepted his proposal and I have never regretted that decision because it was the happiest days of my life."

Sasuke eyed the platinum coloured wedding ring on her marriage finger. The clear cut rock was certainly not small; it looked like it would weigh her hand down. Not surprisingly beside the huge rock were two smaller red diamonds, like the Sharingan. Itachi probably chose it subconsciously because of that fact.

"I chose not to have a huge wedding. I had a secret one with a proper vicar and a few close friends and relatives of mine. My husband had insisted that if I wasn't going to have an elaborate wedding then I would have to at least have this ridiculously expensive ring which he had purchased in the Hidden Sound a while ago."

She glanced adoringly at the ring on her hand before placing it back to her cup, "Despite joining the Akatsuki to 'spy' from the inside he often came back for me whenever he could. We would spend at least a week together before he would leave again. I constantly worried about him but I had complete faith that he would come back to me safely."

Sasuke frowned. It seemed like Itachi had not told her everything. For example, himself and for another, the motives of the Akatsuki.

"_Great Itachi, you just had to leave me to explain the hard bits"_ he thought bitterly.

"On one visit I fell pregnant." Misako blushed lightly at this. Sasuke felt extremely awkward about the situation. This woman was sure as hell to open about her life. If she were to be captured by enemy people she wouldn't even need to be interrogated by them to get information out of her.

Why was she even telling him all this?

"Itachi constantly fretted about me despite the fact our personal physician told him that I was fine, multiple times. He was really happy though, he said he always wanted a family and that he was glad it was with me." She blushed again. "I gave birth to a healthy baby boy 9 months later, a week after my husband's birthday."

Sasuke mentally ticked the check-list in his head. The man at the café had been right. She bore Itachi a son.

"To him it was the greatest birthday gift I could give him. He absolutely adored his son equally as much as he adored me. He frequently visited just to spend time with Hiro."

Sasuke began to look around. Where was this son or 'Hiro' now? Shouldn't he be crying or clinging onto his mother. Misako noticed they way Sasuke glanced around as if searching and laughed lightly, "If you're looking for my son he isn't home right now. He's in the academy with his friends."

"How old is he?" Sasuke asked a little too quickly.

Misako smiled warmly; glad she'd gotten the raven headed boy to speak despite the fact that she had almost told her whole life story, "Hiro is three."

Sasuke frowned.

Three?

That didn't make sense.

Misako noted his expression but didn't look at all surprised, "I know what you're thinking, he's too young to go to school but I assure you that my husband was an extremely intelligent man."

She got that bit right. Itachi was a fucking _genius_.

"I guess that marrying a prodigy came with birthing a son equally as intelligent. He learnt to speak fluently from a very early age and his intelligence developed so fast. My husband suggested we send him to the academy. I was worried about sending him to school at first but my little baby boy insisted that he go to school, so I decided to enrol him in a little earlier than normal."

Damn. Another ridiculously clever Uchiha. Sasuke noted that he'd have to watch out for this boy. This kid was bound to surpass him in more ways than he could imagine.

He'd heard enough from her. All the information he needed to know was out. Sasuke then decided to lay all his cards on the table. Casually he sat back before speaking, "Your husband was Itachi Uchiha."

Misako's eyes widened, surprise quite evident on her face, "I-I'm sorry. How did you know that? I don't think I told you his name."

Sasuke leant in, ignoring the way she pressed herself back onto her chair, "Itachi Uchiha…is my brother."

**…**

"Sakuuuuuuraaaaaaaaa-chan!"

A vein throbbed on Sakura's forehead as the annoying blond continued to pester her about going on a date.

"I'm busy Naruto. Unlike you I have a job and whether you like it or not I don't have the free time to go waltzing around with you eating Ramen." She scolded lightly.

Naruto looked absolutely horrified by her reply, "Sakura-chan! You hurt my feelings!"

"And if you don't get out of this hospital right now something else of yours is going to get hurt and I can guarantee that it will permanently make sure you can't have kids." She admonished with a slight era of evil intent.

Naruto gulped and turned very pale after that remark and decided it he wanted to keep his "treasure" alive he was going to have to relent to her response.

Sakura couldn't help but smile as she watched Naruto leave the hospital. He'd only just recovered from a minor injury but she was pleased that he was now up and running again. Just like he'd always been.

Sakura looked down to her check board before looking down at her patient, Sai, who was smiling at her. No doubt it was a fake one.

"Your condition seems to be fine. I reckon you should be ready to leave the hospital by tomorrow Sai."

He nodded quietly before giving his thanks, "Thank you, Sakura-san."

She smiled brightly before ticking something off from her board.

"Were you really going to castrate Naruto-kun?" Sai suddenly asked curiously. "I mean, you two are so close and all, would it be okay?"

Sakura decided she had, had enough of dealing with her stupid team and sarcastically remarked with a smile, "Sai, I'm sure that if you don't shut up, you'll get to find out how 'alright' it really is."

Sai gulped visibly but kept a smile pasted on. The Konoichi could really be scary at times and he decided that the best course of action was to do what Naruto did. Listen to her.

Pleased with her responses she headed out of the room.

For the rest of the day Sakura had been checking up on patients and at some point she was chasing after her silver haired sensei, who had spent the day running away from any medical-nin that had approached him.

"Kakashi-sensei! If you don't have a check up soon you might not know what fatal disease you might have contracted!" She yelled up to the roof he was currently located on.

The silver haired jounin only yelled back, "Sorry Sakura but I'm really busy!"

With that he saluted her goodbye and disappeared in a cloud of smoke after weaving a couple of handlings.

Sakura cursed her luck to have the laziest sensei in the whole of Konoha. Well to be honest he was actually secretly scared of needles. Something he wanted to avoid at all costs. He was already dangerously late for a total of 3 jabs. For someone of the formidable title 'Kakashi of the Sharingan' this was most certainly something that matched his reputation.

It had taken three more hours before Kakashi had been tricked into going into the examination room and once he was in, Tsunade had instructed Shizune to strap him down to a gurney where he would remain until the examination was over.

By the end of the ordeal Kakashi had run away so fast that Sakura wondered how fast he'd run if it was the apocalypse.

With her task done, Sakura decided to head home early but was then reminded that she had to go make a few things for someone.

First was first, she had to go shopping.

**…**

Sasuke didn't say anything as he stared at the shocked Misako. She was currently coming to terms with a lot of things after Sasuke had explained his story into detail. One including Itachi's death and another including the fact that she was sitting alone with the very man who'd killed him (who was also his younger brother).

"I-"

She was cut off by Sasuke who merely grunted out a response, "I'm not going to kill you or your son."

The look of fear that had flittered across her face disappeared. She was still somewhat shocked. Then she stuttered out a reply, "Then what are you doing back in Konoha?"

"I came looking for you."

She looked absolutely astonished and was unable to say anything else as her eyes flickered down onto the floor.

"I didn't know."

She looked up, confused for a brief moment.

"I didn't know about any of this. If I did I wouldn't have killed him. I didn't know about you, or your son."

Somehow, she found herself sympathizing with him in a way despite the fact her husband had passed away but deep down inside she knew it was going to happen sooner or later. With all the dangerous activities Itachi was doing, something was bound to happen. Secretly Misako had mentally prepared herself for this day, so that she wouldn't crumble. So that she could be strong for her little boy. So that she could live on, raising the only thing Itachi had left behind.

"I don't think it was your fault." She mumbled softly.

This time, Sasuke was the one who looked absolutely startled. He couldn't believe the patience this woman had. He couldn't believe that she was going to forgive him in some way. "What?"

She smiled sadly as she cradled her tea cup. "Itachi was ill. He was very ill." She admitted. "He'd contracted a fatal disease and he was slowly perishing. He often went into a fit of coughs at night when he thought I was asleep and when I asked him about going to see the doctor's he insisted that he was fine and no matter what I did there was nothing that could change his mind."

Sasuke looked absolutely horrified at this fact. Why had the fool been so stubborn? He had a family to raise for Christ's sake!

"I could see the changes in his body, he was slowly growing skinnier every time I saw him. Of course he tried to keep it hidden from Hiro but he knew that Hiro could see the changes too."

Sasuke couldn't imagine the boy's worried expression every time he saw his father. He couldn't imagine the pain that Misako and Hiro went through every time they saw Itachi's form slowly diminishing to skin and bones.

"I knew he was going to pass away very soon. Hiro had known too but he decided not to think about it and kept happy appearances for me and his father." She confessed lightly. "According to your story, you did not deliver the finishing blow to him. Instead he succumbed to his illness and therefore you did not kill him."

Sasuke's jaw dropped at her logic. Was this woman seriously forgiving him?

It was true that he had not finished Itachi off, however it was his fault that he had pushed Itachi's body to the limit. Yet this woman was here, smiling at him like nothing had happened, "Are you stupid, woman?"

"I think I am. But there's nothing I can do. It's just the way I am." She shrugged though it was obvious she was hurt and heartbroken judging from the way her eyes glazed over with water. She made her feelings clear when she sniffled and tried to hide her face behind her hair, "How am I going to tell Hiro?"

Sasuke frowned. This was another problem he hadn't stopped to consider. Despite the fact that the boy was capable of looking after himself, the fact still remained that he was a _boy_. Age _three_ for that matter. Sasuke groaned inwardly but nothing could've prepared him for what he was going to say next, "I'll tell him."

Misako looked up, teardrops frozen at the edges of her eyes, "What?"

"I'll tell him." He repeated quietly whilst mentally slapping himself for saying so. He didn't have a plan so why on earth did he even suggest the notion. Sometimes he just realised how stupid he really was. "I'll tell him everything he needs to know. I'm sure he's mature enough to handle it."

Misako sniffed before bursting out and banging a clenched fist onto the table, "But he's a child! His life has barely begun and I know that he's mature enough to handle it but his father had been everything to him and I don't want him to feel like he's been robbed of the one thing he was so proud of. The one person he could look up too."

"I know that!" Sasuke snarled. "But what choice do we have?"

Misako flinched before deflating slightly after seeing the truth in his words. "What will you do?"

Sasuke ran his hand through his ebony locks as he huffed, "I vowed to Itachi's grave to protect the legacy he's left behind. I also swore to protect the things he holds dear and that would most definitely include you and his son."

The fist that had been on the table, unclenched.

Sasuke was not the one to comfort people, especially people like Misako. However he'd taken into account that she was his sister-in-law and that she was family. He couldn't just abandon her, not now. Not ever. He placed a cold hand softly above her own in a comforting gesture, "I'll help you, if you will accept me."

She smiled softly as she gazed into his dark eyes that seemed sincere, "I'd already accepted you long ago."

* * *

A/N: Well, what do you guys thinks? I am aware this is a SakuraXSasuke couple however he does not meet her until the next Chapter. This Chapter is technically the beginning as the other Chapter was a prologue. There's still plenty of time for the two to meet.

Until then continue to Review, Favourite and Follow!

Chao!


	3. The Uncle, The Son and an Old Friend

**A/N: ****I am extremely annoyed with my laptop, it keeps freezing but nonetheless it has not hindered my spirits to get this story on a role! I wouldn't say I'm entirely satisfied with this content of this chapter but it will have to do in order to get the basic plot line into place.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto - The day I do will be the day I rewrite another plotline XD!**

* * *

**To Find Love**

**Chapter 3 – The Uncle, The Son and an Old Friend**

It had taken a while for Hiro to accept the fact that his father was no longer alive but at least he hadn't burst into tears for an hour straight like most kids. Then again he wasn't like most kids. He was unique in a special kind of way. Sasuke had figured as much.

Misako was truly surprised that her son had taken it better than she would have expected for someone of his age but as far as she could tell he was still sad. On the other positive hand Hiro had been happy that Sasuke had come to stay with them after discovering that the strange ebony haired man who'd been sleeping across his room a day was in fact his blood related uncle.

Sasuke stared at the boy. He was the exact living mirror image of Itachi. Every one of his physical features was the same. His hair was jet black, a much darker shade than Itachi's but still oddly familiar in style. He had long eyelashes that surrounded his black eyes. His lips and nose were most definitely the trait of the Uchiha genes. No doubt this boy was popular with the girls in his class.

It seemed like the boy had inherited nothing from his mother except for the quirky attitude and chatty personality which Sasuke was beginning to find irritating.

In a million years, Sasuke never dreamed he'd be talking so complexly with a three year old. It was more like he was conversing with a dwarf. Hiro's voice was still high like an infant, which constantly reminded Sasuke he had to be careful with what he said.

Currently the boy was sitting on the chair opposite Sasuke whilst glancing curiously at his Uncle Sasuke, who remained emotionless at the dinner table. Misako had left to the kitchen to start cooking dinner and had left Hiro alone with his uncle to get to know each other.

"Uncle Sasuke."

Sasuke turned to the boy's direction, feeling unusual at the proclaimed title of 'Uncle'. "What is it?"

The boy giggled, "Nothing, it just sounds really weird to say."

Slightly annoyed the boy has called him unnecessarily, he scowled, the boy giggled again.

"I've never really said 'Uncle' much because I didn't know father had a sibling, it sounds weird but I kind of like saying it."

"Hn." Was Sasuke's usual reply.

"Hey, Uncle Sasuke. Father used to tell me the Uchiha's were infamous for their use of Dojutsu. I've read all about it in the libraries. I've never really seen it but it sounds cool! You can do it too, can't you? Show me!"

Sasuke sighed and relented to the boys request, he removed his arm from the chair before leaning forward so they boy could get a good look at his eye, "Sharingan." His black eyes slowly dissipated into a colour of crimson red. The three distinguished tomoe appeared, swirling to take their place around his pupil.

The boy was totally awed, "Whoa…"

Sasuke blinked, deactivating the Sharingan, his eyes slowly returning to their blackened state. "Happy?"

"I want to learn!"

Sasuke sighed; clearly the boy hadn't read in complex detail about the Sharingan, "You can't learn it. It's a Kekkei Genkai, unless your father's abilities were passed down onto you, you won't be able to activate it."

"I think I have it. The Uchiha genes are pretty strong." Hiro stated comfortably.

"And how do you know that?"

"Well they've been around for years. I don't think that the genes will suddenly come to an end. Father's had pretty strong genes passed on to me and mum's genes are slightly weaker."

This boy was smart. Very smart.

"So _how _do you activate it?" he pressed on excitedly.

Sasuke sighed again, despite being a prodigy this boy didn't know much about the clan. "When an Uchiha comes to know a powerful emotion towards someone it causes the brain to release a special form of chakra that affects the optic nerves while transforming the eyes into Sharingan."

"So…" he paused to think, "…any emotion? Like love?"

Sasuke nodded, "So long as it's powerful enough."

"How did you get yours?

"Hate."

"Gee Uncle Sasuke. You really hate the world don't you?" The boy added pitifully in a sarcastic manner.

Sasuke only shrugged in response, far too tired to argue with the boy._ How_ did Itachi deal with him?

"Hey Uncle Sasuke, you aren't ill are you?"

Sasuke frowned, "No. I'm not. What makes you think I'm ill?"

"It's just your complexion. You're really pale, too pale and it looks like you've lost weight." Then he added with an edge of sadness in his voice, "Father used to be like that."

It's true that Sasuke did not look the best, however after a day of being rendered unconscious his eye bags were almost gone along with the black colour that came with it. His hair was back into its usual state except for his fringe which had fallen loosely around his forehead. His skin was finally starting to flush with a little more colour. He didn't think he looked all that bad…

Sasuke sighed in relief when Misako came out holding two steaming plates. "He's not ill Hiro, he just hasn't eaten well these last few days." She added softly as she placed the plates down onto the dining table before shooting Sasuke an understanding smile.

The boy relaxed a little in relief, but it wasn't long before his youthful energy started to kick in again, "Ne, Uncle Sasuke. Tell me what father was like when he was younger."

Sasuke sighed, clearly not in the mood to talk about Itachi.

Misako scowled. "Hiro. Let your uncle eat, he's very tired. He'll tell you in his own time." She reprimanded sternly.

The boy pouted which reminded Sasuke of himself in his younger days. When Misako disappeared back into the kitchen the boy glanced at Sasuke with a grin as he leant over the table almost too eagerly.

"What?"

"You will tell me about my father won't you? And grandma? And grandfather?"

Sasuke sighed again, damn this boys persistence, "You're pretty annoying for a brat you know."

Hiro grinned, "Thanks!"

"It wasn't a compliment."

"I know." The boy grinned, clapping his hands together before chirping out his thanks and then shovelling noodles into his mouth excitedly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he proceeded to scoop a forkful of noodles into his mouth too. As they ate in silence, Sasuke wondered that if Itachi was still alive, would he be here today, eating noodles like nothing mattered in the world apart from the woman and the boy. It had occurred to him that this was very much indeed his new family and whether he liked it or not he was beginning to grow attached. Something which he hadn't been with anyone for a long time.

He sighed. So _this_ was going to be his new life…

**…**

That night Sasuke found himself wide awake, lying on his side in a curled ball under the futon. It wasn't yet midnight. However he feared that his insomnia was bound to come round again, keeping him up until the early mornings of the next day.

He groaned and rolled onto his back in hopes the new position would aid his sleep much better. It wasn't working.

Sasuke scowled as he sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. Despite managing to find Itachi's significant other, he found that the guilt imbedded in him still lingered as strongly as it had been before.

He sighed before deciding that he needed to go out into the garden for some fresh air and…reflection.

Misako had kindly enough provided clothes for Sasuke, she had left them beside one of the boxes where he could easily find them folded in a neat stack.

Sasuke bent down and picked up a grey hoodie before pulling it over his head until it fit around him comfortably. The hoodie smelt of a distinct scent of freesias and vanilla or in other words Itachi's (unusually feminine) scent. Sasuke couldn't help but inhale in slightly as he remembered his childhood of clinging onto his older brother's warm back, his brother smelling of freesias and vanilla with equal intensity despite sweating after training.

Satisfied that he was warm enough to head outside, he slid his door open quietly as not to disturb the sleeping Hiro across his bedroom and tiptoe across the hallway and down the flight of stairs.

Once he reached the garden, a cold breeze rolled in through the open door. Sasuke padded his way across the wooden walkway barefooted, not caring if he was going to get splinters. He sat on the edge on the porch, his legs dangling out and touching the grassy lawn in front of him.

Often he and Itachi would sit out like this on a sunny day whilst eating persimmons and Satsuma's.

On other days Itachi always had serious conversations with Sasuke always saying how he was going to be there for him and that even if Sasuke would come to hate him, he wouldn't care because he loved him enough to let him do that.

It was a full moon tonight, Sasuke had noted after gazing up into the twilight sky. Recently he'd starting taking notice of irrelevant things. Even the smallest detail was brought to his attention for some reason.

His ears pricked up when the door behind him opened. He turned around surprised to find Misako - who was equally surprised – in her white nightgown.

"Sasuke! What are you doing out here?" She exclaimed in a whisper.

He didn't answer as his eyes met her glinting golden ones.

She smiled in an understanding way as she walked over to join him on the porch. Sasuke watched as she gracefully sat down beside him, "You couldn't sleep?"

Sasuke shook his head. "What about you?"

"I couldn't miss the full moon."

He was thoroughly confused at her unusual response and she laughed as his face twisted into an unknown emotion.

"Itachi and I used to come and sit out here on the porch whilst trading our stories of our childhood." She explained before continuing, "The first time we were intimate was on a full moon."

Sasuke's lingered on her petite form before he gazed back up at the moon.

"Itachi used to tell me of a best friend he had." Misako confessed lightly. Sasuke turned to her in surprise. "He never would say his name but he said this person was the closest person he had." She shook her head lightly averting her gaze from the moon to the raven head sitting beside her, "I don't think he really was talking about his best friend. I think he was talking about you, Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't know what to say. He was lost for words.

"Itachi used to tell me of the mischief you two were always up to. Upsetting your father all the time whilst running around chasing cats and 'claiming' their paw prints." She laughed lightly as she wrapped her arms round her legs.

Ah, yes…he'd long forgotten about the Cat Paw Encyclopaedia Itachi had made for him. It would be silly to go back for it but Sasuke considered making a replica for Hiro's entertainment.

"He used to tell me how you two always ate persimmons and Satsuma's out on the Uchiha mansion porches and every time he mentioned you his eyes would always fill up with warmth."

Sasuke could only stair at her before uttering out the quiet words, "He always seemed to hate me."

Misako, gently took Sasuke's hand into her whilst looking into his eyes, "He could never hate you and he never has." She shook her head lightly, "He loves you Sasuke and he'll continue loving you no matter what. You are his precious brother, his one true friend in the world." Misako looked up to the moon once again, "And no matter what happens, even if Itachi is dead, that love is passed on through me and Hiro. You're not alone in the world Sasuke. You'll always be in our hearts." She placed a hand on Sasuke's chest, directly above his heart, "And Itachi will always be with you here."

It was a long moment before the words had managed to sink in. Misako stood up, deciding to call it a night and go back to sleep, "Well, I'm heading to bed now. Hiro will kill me if I don't wake up to make him breakfast tomorrow."

She slide the door open and slipped inside. "Goodnight, Sasuke." She whispered as she closed the door.

That night Sasuke couldn't seem to wipe the smile off his face and as he slipped into his futon he finally found the sleep he'd wanted for so long.

Not the nightmare enshrouded dreams from his memory of Itachi's last moments, but the dreams of the best moments he'd spent with his brother.

**…**

Sakura walked out of the gates of Konoha after wishing Izumo and Kotetsu a good morning. Apparently both of them had answered back that they were not as happy as she was because Tsunade had, had them running on daunting errands early in the morning. Sakura chuckled knowing too well how harsh the Godaime could be in the mornings. Tsunade was most definitely not a morning person and it didn't help the fact that she liked to drink sake therefore often waking up with a splitting headache.

Sakura wished them good luck, chuckling lightly at their comical wailing, before continuing walking with her she carried a wicker basket. She walked along the main road until she turned to the left and strolled into a hidden trail in the forest.

It wasn't too hard to find her destination. She'd taken this route on a frequent basis.

As per usual when a clearing came into sight and the shrubbery thinned out a large house became visible. The door had been propped open as usual and Sakura didn't hesitate to approach the house.

"Misako-san!" Sakura called out into the grand building after taking a step through the doorway.

Sure enough Misako's head popped out from the living room. Her face brightened up at Sakura's presence. "Sakura-chan!" she exclaimed before running out to hug the pink headed Konoichi, "You should have told me you were coming by."

Sakura laughed, "I've only come to drop off some onigiri. I know how much Hiro enjoys it."

Misako beamed taking the wicker basket out of Sakura's outstretched arms. "You really shouldn't have! You're going to spoil Hiro!"

Sakura laughed, "Hiro-chan needs to be spoiled once in a while. You're too strict on him."

Misako chuckled, "I try to be nice but you know how his father gets."

"How is your husband?" Sakura inquired curiously. She'd never met the man but he sounded like a decent being. In fact she hardly knew about Misako's mysterious significant other and she'd never seen any picture around. Not even a name or surname had been given. The only lead she had was that Hiro looked like his father. Every time she squinted at the boy it reminded her of someone that she couldn't put a finger on. Nevertheless she never pondered too much on the mysterious husband; she had her hands full with Hiro and her job anyway.

"He…" Misako began before stopping herself. Sakura nodded sympathetically. She knew that Misako never really knew how her husband was until he came back on specific weeks. From what she'd heard the man was often on missions abroad for long periods of time.

Sakura noted Misako's attire consisting of a dirtied apron and the black smudge marks on Misako's usually flawless face, "You've been cleaning?"

Misako nodded grateful for the change in subject otherwise she'd be weeping. Gracefully she turned for the kitchen with the basket tucked under one arm, "The cinders needed a good sweep up."

As she made her way towards the kitchen behind Misako, Sakura noticed an unfamiliar pair of shoes by the staircase. "You have a guest?" Sakura asked, alarmed. Misako never really usually had people come round to her house.

"A permanent guest. He's Hiro's uncle."

Sakura was rather taken aback. She never really knew that Misako's husband had family still alive. Sakura wondered if she'd be able to meet this uncle in person but dismissed the thought in her head. She turned back to Misako who was unpacking the food and placing it into the fridge, "Misako-san. Do you need anything from the markets? There's a lot of fresh fruits on sale."

The raven headed beauty shook her head, "It's okay." She paused on queue as if to reconsider but shook her head at the sight of the stuffed fridge, "I'm sure we have enough food."

Sakura hummed before turning to make her leave, "I'll come back tonight again Misako-san at 7 as we agreed. I need to give Hiro his gift as well."

"You didn't have to get him a gift Sakura-chan!"

Sakura waved her hand dismissively, "It's okay, it's from Naruto anyway. It's a congratulatory gift for passing the exams with full marks again."

Misako pouted. Clearly unhappy her son was being spoiled to this extent but nevertheless she was thankful that Sakura had the courtesy to come and visit frequently or babysit Hiro when she was on a nightshift at the hospital.

Naruto was also a kind hearted boy that she was thankful for. The blond Kyuubi was protective of her son ever since Misako had proclaimed him Hiro's godfather. He'd taught Hiro many techniques including the Kage Bunshin though she wasn't particularly proud that Naruto was also trying to get Hiro to learn the 'Sexy' Transformation Technique. She was fortunate enough to have a son who held no interest in these sorts of things.

Sakura had shared Misako's feelings and was often found beating Naruto up for attempting to corrupt the young boys mind. He's already corrupted Konohamaru's mind and there was no need for another pervert. Konoha had, had their fair share of perverts already.

Out of the blue a third voice called out. "Misako," A low masculine voice called from the stairway.

Sakura's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. The voice was…husky, in a familiar kind of way. But it couldn't be _him_ of all people…could it?

"You've ran out of shampoo." The voice was getting closer to their location.

Sakura's eyes widened in alarm at the familiarity of the tone. _It couldn't be…_

Misako smiled, oblivious to Sakura's reaction, "There's some more in the storage cupboards, Sasuke-kun!"

…_Sasuke!_

In a second the pink haired Konoichi was out and ran straight into the hallway. Uchiha Sasuke. The one person she'd wanted to see for so long. The one person who made her heart do flip flops every time he was around. The one person she'd been infatuated with to the point of love for 10 long years ever since she laid eyes on him.

She stopped dead in her tracks as she looked up at the figure on the stairs. Her voice caught in her throat as her eyes trailed up his torso to his face.

Onyx eyes met apple green.

Sasuke huffed visibly while rubbing a towel on his wet ebony locks._ Fuck. This just got a whole lot more complicated._

**…**

"Aaaah. So you and Sasuke-kun were teammates back in the Genin days."

Sakura nodded at Misako's observation but her eyes continued to linger on Sasuke's form on the other end of the dinner table. His appearance had been changed slightly, he was skinnier and paler like he was ill and fatigued but to Sakura she could only see the boy she fell in love with years ago.

This was Hiro's _uncle_?

Sasuke, who had just gotten out from a hot shower, was now properly dressed in his usual attire. His hair still damp and dripping with water but he'd felt cleaner than he had been in days. He had planned on training again this evening but seeing how a certain pink haired disturbance had arrived he saw there was no chance he'd be getting his training done which was a pain in the ass.

He glanced at his teammate. He would never admit this aloud but puberty and adolescence had been generous to her. She was indeed beautiful for someone of her age. Her hair had remained in the same untamed bob but her face had become rounder and fuller making her appear mature. Her green eyes had intensified in colour and her lashes were thicker and longer, framing her eyes in perfect pink. Her nose had become sharper and her lips pouty. Her body was well defined, she wasn't the most curvaceous of woman Sasuke had seen but she was a woman no doubt and came with all the defined parts a woman had.

Sasuke noted that Sakura wasn't old enough or mature enough yet to compete with Misako's beauty, however given that she was still young she had the potential to match up to both Misako and Tsunade in the future.

Meanwhile on the other end of the table Sakura couldn't keep her eyes off of Sasuke Uchiha. Her heart thumped with agonizing pain as a familiar feeling in her stomach made her squirm. For so long Sakura had wanted Sasuke to come back Konoha. For her and Team 7 to be reunited once again… and to fall in love with him once more.

She never thought that she would see him again and especially not in these circumstances. Her heart gave a painful squeeze once again as she reminisced in the old times. It was not an unpleasant feeling but it was a feeling she had dearly missed feeling.

It was amazing how he still had the same effect on her after all these years, if not a little stronger. He was after all, 16, and his looks had matured into a face that had girls bowing to his feet. Sakura was no exception. She was not immune to his looks.

"Misako-san. You never told me your husband was Itachi Uchiha." Sakura stated slowly.

Misako laughed nervously scratching the back of her head, "You were never curious Sakura-chan."

"But that means Uchiha-san is…" Sakura trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence and upset Misako. News had spread to Konoha was the death of an Akatsuki.

"Yes." Misako confirmed. "He has…passed away."

Sakura felt horrified. She didn't know Itachi too well, however he was a devoting father and his family cared for him very deeply. Sure Itachi had done some crappy things in the past, crappy being a huge understatement, but he had started a new life to atone…hadn't he? Or at least she thought he had.

How did Hiro take all this and did they need counselling? Did they even know who was responsible for his death? Sakura shot a suspicious glance at Sasuke who looked away from her accusatory stare.

"How…are you coping, Misako-san?"

"I've been better," She confessed lightly, "but there's nothing I can do to bring him back, can I? What's gone is gone." She grinned weakly, "But I have Hiro and that's enough to keep me going."

"But-" Sakura began only to be cut off immediately.

"Doesn't matter. It's all in the past that we can't change." Sasuke grunted out all of a sudden drawing the attention of both female. Curiosity spurred him on to a question that had been on his mind from the moment he'd laid eyes on her after years, "Sakura. How do you know Misako?"

Sakura tried to ignore the feelings she'd harboured for him and clenched her teeth together. "She's my friend Sasuke." She pointed out bluntly. It was meant to sound threatening but came out as a statement of anger.

Misako noticed the heated glares from each company and decided to chip in, turning to Sasuke she began to explain, "Sakura and I met after I began working in the hospital as a nurse. We became good friends shortly after and Sakura-chan often goes shopping for my groceries and looks after Hiro when I'm on night shift duty."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed intensely onto Sakura's.

Misako continued, "Naruto-kun comes and helps too."

"Hn." His eyes never removed from Sakura's face.

Sakura decided she'd had enough of Sasuke's negative mood, especially his glaring, the nerve of the man! "Stop looking at me like that, Sasuke-kun."

He snorted. She gave him a hard glare trying to look as venomous as possible, "Why are you even back in Konoha? What the hell happened to Team Taka?" She paused before adding, "What the hell happened to _you_?" She emphasized her question with a swift point of her finger in his direction.

"I have no obligation to answer you."

"Of course you don't!" Sakura remarked sarcastically throwing her arms into the air, "I forget that people like me are just unworthy of your time, aren't they?!"

Misako, sensing an impending argument decided to step in, "Sakura-chan. I think we need to calm down."

Sakura shot a glare at the raven headed female. "Me?! Calm down?! Misako, Sasuke-kun here rendered me unconscious and left me of the bench out in the cold. He's tried to kill me and Naruto and you're telling me to calm down!" Sakura squawked. All her feelings that she had bottled up for so long suddenly came exploding in one huge bang. Every one of her emotions from happiness to anger she could no longer contain and it was all_ his_ fault he'd made her this way. She knew he knew this yet he showed sign of remorse or emotion of some kind which really hurt her deep down inside. She had given everything up for him. Everything. And what did he do? He trampled on her pride, on her feelings, on everything she'd ever sacrificed for him.

"Whatever happened between the two of you is none of my business, however Sakura-chan I do not think that yelling at me nor Sasuke-kun is going to help matters." Misako said sternly.

Sakura saw the truth in her words and slumped into her seat childishly. After three years she had matured, however when it came to Sasuke, he had not. He was still the pessimistic being he'd once been and something inside of her snapped in rage. After all these years she would have thought he would show some sort of emotion to see her again but he was the same fool as he was before. Blinded by power that he couldn't even see what he had.

"Sasuke-kun, I think you should make an effort to answer Sakura-chan's questions. She hasn't seen you in three years. At least have some dignity to answer her." Misako advised softly.

This time Sasuke shot a glare at Misako, "What would you know of my relationship with my teammates? I am no longer affiliated with Sakura therefore I'm not obliged to answer her questions. It's none of her business!"

"None of my business! None of my business?!" Sakura felt her voice begin to raise again, "Sasuke! You were my teammate! Naruto and I chased after you for three years hoping you'd see sense in that thick head of yours and that you would come back to Konoha! How can you still stay that?!"

"I can say whatever the fuck I want. Leave me alone and go back home Sakura. You don't belong here." Great. He was raising his voice too.

"Not everyone in the worlds going to do what you want! Grow up!"

Misako, apparently having enough of the screeching and yelling, slammed her palms onto the table, "Sasuke! Sakura!"

Both parties glanced her way, surprised by her reaction.

She scowled, "If you want to argue, I suggest you get out of my house and argue. However I do not think that this is the best way to come about with things. Can't you both just mature a little to have a decent conversation?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort but decided against it knowing he'd never win a battle with a woman. Instead he grunted out. Sakura calmed down a little after inhaling and exhaling before apologizing to Misako, "I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." She replied with a firm nod. "Now I suggest the pair of you suck it up and resolve any bad relations between the two of you or you can both get out of my house and pick up a fight like thugs and lowlifes."

"Misako-san. It's not that simple. "Sakura shook her head, "I-I have tried everything to absolve my feelings. I have tried to fix the rift between us. I have tried everything but I give up. It's impossible to get through to him."

Sasuke glared but didn't say anything because she was telling the truth.

Misako sighed, "Nothing is that simple in life Sakura." She placed a hand firmly on Sakura's shoulders, "However there are second chances in life. I believe that you can fix your relationship with Sasuke. He just needs a little push."

"Do I not get a say in this?" Sasuke asked, annoyed that he was being ignored totally. He hadn't come back to Konoha to build his relationship with his friends again. He'd only come as Misako and Hiro's guardian in Itachi's place.

Misako shot him another cold glare, "No. You have done more than enough Sasuke and being Itachi's brother I can tell you are most certainly going to be very stubborn and unwilling with all this. I will not tolerate it."

"Why are you even doing this, Misako?" He sighed in aggravation.

"Because Sakura-chan is my friend and you need to learn these things Sasuke. It's not something you can run from every time you mess up."

She had a good point.

"Since your back in Konoha anyway you might as well fix your broken bonds because there's no way people will accept you with open arms and you most certainly cannot go hiding here forever. My house is not a cave."

Fine. She had two very good points, Sasuke thought with annoyance.

**…**

After many disagreements and agreements Sasuke had been forced to walk Sakura home. By forced it meant Misako had proceeded to kick him out of the house using a frying pan as a weapon. He had wondered why he had not used his Kunai or Shuriken against her and then remembered the ways Misako could be very convincing with her face alone. So grudgingly he trudged behind his former teammate in miserable silence, the fallen leaves crunching with his every step and the shrubs rustling with every movement.

Sakura herself had not been particularly happy with this arrangement but she wouldn't complain. At least she could talk to him even for a little bit.

"What do I tell Naruto?"

He hadn't thought about that but replied in an uncaring manner, "Tell him whatever you want."

After that blunt reply she decided not to say anything for a while until she remembered that the security around Konoha's gates had been upgraded. Before anything chaotic could happen she had to discuss this situation to Tsunade first and god forbid the Sannin would _not_ be happy.

"You probably should stop here before someone at the gates spots you and reports you to the Godaime before I do."

He grunted. She sighed and turned to him, he stopped in his tracks.

"I'm coming back at 7." She informed. "Make sure Hiro gets his homework done until then and tell Misako not to make any dinner for me."

He grunted again she huffed. "I'm off."

She didn't even bother to wish his a good bye, after all he wouldn't return it anyway and he had just put her in the sourest of moods.

But somewhere deep down inside the crevice of her heart, she beamed, happy that for once he was going to stay and that there was indeed a chance to fix the mess they'd left behind.

Little did she know that Sasuke too felt the same.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I know. There isn't much Sasuke X Sakura but I'm trying to keep the Characters with their original personalities and I do not believe that when the two meet after many years it will be happy and fun reunion, however this story now has a purpose for Sakura and Sasuke to spend time and fall in love!

For now review, favourite and follow for more!


	4. Forgive and Forget

**A/N: I am currently situated on my bed with my laptop on the desk beside me as a source of sole entertainment seeing as I am almost bed ridden with a horrible cold and I am literally limited to very little activities. But thanks to this cold I have had enough time to write up another chapter so you fans can thank my best friend who spread on this cold like it was water. **

**There was a question regarding Hiro's identity (whether or not he uses Uchiha as his surname). In answer to that, the situation will be explained later on, perhaps in the next chapter (hopefully if I haven't collapsed from this cold).**

**Any other question are welcome and I am happy to answer them (or reveal them in the next chapters).**

**This was a very short and random chapter, I think it's the shortest chapter so far but I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto **

* * *

**To Find Love **

**Chapter 4 – Forgive and Forget**

"Hiro. What do you think of Haruno Sakura?"

Hiro glanced up from his work to his uncle who sat in silence next to him. It was such an unusual question to ask that he pondered over it for a good minute or so. "Sakura nee-chan?"

Sasuke gave a slight nod of his head, trying not to make eye contact with his nephew. Hiro tapped the end of his pen on his chin thoughtfully. "Nee-chan's a really nice person." He concluded.

"Oh?" Sasuke's eyebrows quirked up. He wondered briefly if Hiro had seen the way Sakura dent the ground with punch from her fist.

"Nee-chan's nice but Naruto nii-san says if you make her mad things can go really bad."

Nope. Clearly the boy had not seen Sakura's super enhanced ability to reduce almost anything to pulp. He'd only seen her sweet and innocent side.

Hiro went back down to studying, quickly filling in the blank boxes on his sheet before handing the sheet to Sasuke, "I'm done."

Sasuke, who was leaning on the palm of his hand, took the sheet and read through the contents before sighing and handing it back to the grinning boy, "You know you should really consider asking your teacher for harder questions if you can answer all of these easily."

The boy made a disgusted face, taking the piece of paper back, "Who asks for that?"

Sasuke smirked in amusement, "Too cool for school?"

"No. It's just no one's asked for _harder _questions."

"And why not? Clearly you're very smart for your age; you wouldn't find it too hard."

Hiro frowned, "You aren't trying to make me do these things are you?"

Sasuke only continues to smirk in response, "So what if I am?"

"What's in it for you?"

Before Sasuke could respond, Misako entered the living room looking flustered, "I'm going to get going now because I'm already a little late." She glanced at the pendulum clock by the fireplace and sighed, "Sakura-chan will be here at 7 so until then you two," She pointed at a bored looking Sasuke and a grinning Hiro, "Behave. I don't want to come back with my house destroyed."

Hiro rolled his eyes, "We know mum. You can go now."

Misako frowned but approached her son to give him a quick kiss, leaving a wet kiss mark on his cherub cheek, "Bye sweetie. I'll see you in the morning."

Hiro recoiled, pulling a disgusted face, and rubbed the wet patch on his cheeks with his sleeve, "Ew, mum."

She chuckled before turning to Sasuke, "I would give you a kiss too but I assume you're going to say that you are far too old for one."

Sasuke groaned at the idea of an impending smooch to the cheek, something which he had far too often from his auntie when he was younger, "Just go Misako. We'll be fine."

She turned to leave in a hurry and hastily grabbed her keys from a bowl before throwing on a coat and walking out the door. "Be good." She warned one last time.

Hiro grinned as he looked up to Sasuke, who returned a gaze equally as mischievous. This boy was one hell of an evil kid deep down inside, Sasuke thought in a joking manner.

"And be nice to Sakura-chan!" Misako shouted as she shut the door.

The two waited in silence in the living room before Hiro turned to his uncle, "Mum's gone now. Now you can teach me how to use a Kunai."

"Yeah, unless you want to get caught by Sakura." Sasuke added.

Hiro snorted, "Nee-chan won't tell," He grinned. "She loves me too much."

"Pretty arrogant aren't you?"

"Says the man who thinks he can do everything."Hiro rebutted with a smirk.

"I do not think that." Sasuke pressed on harshly.

"Yes you do." Hiro insisted. "Back to the point." He grabbed Sasuke's hand and proceeded to drag his uncle out into the garden; Sasuke didn't really have time to complain about anything and before he knew what was going on, he stood in the middle of the garden and Hiro had ran on a few metres ahead of him across the lawn. Sasuke stood on the lawn, not knowing quite what to do for once.

Hiro observed his uncle before egging him on, "Come on. Show me something. Anything."

Sasuke placed a hand on his hips, "You know half the moves I do, you won't be able to do because you're pretty short and inexperienced."

"I'm three," Hiro huffed indignantly. "I'm meant to be short and inexperienced; Iruka-sensei won't even let me handle a Kunai."

"If we start with kunai training we have to start with the very basics." Sasuke stated. He frowned at the idea of having to train the boy from the very start, it seemed annoying. Then again everything was annoying to him.

Hiro grinned, "That's fine with me."

"You have any Kunai and Shuriken around?"

"Sure!" the boy chirped before taking off his pouch on his waist and unzipping it to retrieve the sharp weapons. He held them up for Sasuke to see, "Will this do?"

Sasuke nodded before holding out his hand for one. Hiro obediently placed the sharp metal into his uncle's palm and watched him with reserved wonder for what Sasuke would do next.

Sasuke took a fighting stance and kept very still. His eyes narrowed onto a target in the tree. Several metres ahead of him hung a small solitary pinecone that was partially concealed by the thick leaves of the trees branches. "You see that Pinecone?"

Hiro squinted and then nodded, "Yeah, I see it."

"Watch carefully."

In a second Sasuke was flying up into the air. Hiro watched as his uncle leapt up with grace and then twirl, releasing a whizzing shuriken towards the target. A confirmed hit had been established when something fell from the tree and landed on the earthy soil with a soft thud. Sasuke landed gently back onto his feet and watched as Hiro made his way towards the fallen object.

Despite the fact it was getting dark, Hiro could easily find the Shuriken amongst the wild grass. He picked it up carefully, wiping the dirt that he picked up with it. Beside the Shuriken lay a perfectly split pine cone. Hiro grinned and turned around to find his Uncle Sasuke behind him.

"You hit it dead on."

Sasuke smirked. He never once missed a target. Itachi had taught him well to make sure of it.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Hiro asked in curious wonder.

"Your father taught me."

Hiro smiled proudly, "Father knew a lot of things." Then he added and afterthought, "But he wouldn't teach them to me. He always used to jab my forehead and tell me that next time he'd teach me."

Apparently Itachi's habits as a teenager never really died down. He still poked people foreheads and gave them false promises, something which Sasuke disliked as a child very much.

"He used to do that to me too."

"He had some sharp fingers didn't he? It really hurt." Hiro said whilst unconsciously running his fingers on his forehead as if reliving the memory.

Sasuke chuckled lightly too himself, knowing all too well what Itachi's flicks could do to people's heads. Moving on from the subject at hand, Sasuke pointed at the Shuriken in Hiro's hand, "You gonna show me what you can do or what?"

Hiro grinned before assuming the fighting stance like Sasuke. "What do you want me to hit?"

Sasuke's eyes began to pick out targets that wouldn't be too hard to hit and wouldn't require any hard movements to follow. His eyes landed on a birch tree nearby. He pointed a finger towards it, "Hit that."

Hiro hummed in agreement before taking a deep breath. He counted to 10 and swept his arms in a fast fluid motion. The shuriken went spinning into the air before it skimmed past the tree trunk and landed on the ground. Hiro hissed through his teeth in disappointment.

Sasuke observed the damage done to the birch tree from a distance away. From the looks of it, the shuriken had managed to take a piece of bark off, but just barely.

"Your aim is a little off but your throwing techniques is good." Sasuke commented after a while.

Hiro grinned proudly, straightening his posture, "Beginners luck."

"And you learnt this just by watching me?"

Hiro nodded. Sasuke frowned, there was absolutely no doubt this boy was a prodigy just like his father. In that case teaching the boy would be easier than expected. Sasuke decided that training would be done at a much faster pace and within a few weeks he reckoned Hiro would be able to use advanced moves.

"Pretty good for a midget."

Hiro grinned despite just having being referred to as a 'midget'.

Sasuke pointed towards a bigger birch tree, "Now hit that. This time make sure your fingers are in the direct line of the target."

Hiro nodded before repeating the steps he'd done previously. This time the shuriken stuck onto the very edge of the birch tree before it fell down onto the ground. Hiro looked thoroughly disappointed at the outcome.

Sasuke placed a finger thoughtfully on his chin, "It was better this time."

"Better but not perfect. What am I doing wrong?"

"Perhaps your stance is a little off?" Sasuke suggested. "Try the same stance but lower your arms a little."

Hiro did as he was told before he dug out another shuriken and fired it from his hand again. It hit the birch tree dead on and stuck in the centre permanently. Hiro grinned, "Third time lucky."

"Hn."

Behind them someone clapped which startled Sasuke. They both turned around to see the intruder and were met with the sight of a Konoichi with pink hair and green eyes.

_Sakura_. Sasuke thought in an irritated manner. He observed her usual outfit that consisted of a red top with white circular designs, similar to the qipao dress she'd worn when they were younger.

"Sakura nee-chan!" Hiro exclaimed excitedly before running up to her to give her a hug.

She smiled and held out her arms to return the hug with equal compassion.

Sasuke noticed that she wore black gloves which were matched with her black boots and black shorts under her short pink apron skirt. Her elbows were now covered with pink elbow protectors and her forehead protector still remained on her head but with a red band.

A lot had changed in Konoha.

Including Sakura Haruno.

"That was a dead hit on. Well done, Hiro-chan!" She complimented whilst tousling the boys black hair. Sasuke did not fail to notice the emotions in that one gesture.

Hiro grinned as he looked up to the pink haired Shinobi. "You won't tell mum will you? You know how angry she gets if I touch sharp weapons." He said sheepishly.

Sakura frowned and huffed, "She's only like that for your own good. A three year old shouldn't be handling weapons or fighting." Sakura glanced down at the little boy and sighed in defeat when he gave her the look that made her knees weak, "But I won't tell."

Hiro broke out into a grin again. "You're the best Nee-chan!"

"Just don't go running for my help when your mums finds out by herself."

Hiro smirked, "I have Uncle Sasuke to hide behind."

Her eyes widened when she realised that they were not alone. Sasuke was with them, albeit a little further away. She glanced back up and met his eyes in a challenging stare.

He looked as glum as ever.

"Sasuke." She said bitterly with a nod of her head to show she'd acknowledged his presence.

He didn't respond, instead he merely huffed before walking towards them.

Sakura's heart thumped with every step he took until her stopped in front of them. She held her breath in anticipation for what he would do next. For a moment he stared at her face which made her struggle to control a blush from painting her cheeks.

Then he glanced down at Hiro who was looking at the pair with questioning eyes.

"Good Job. We'll resume training tomorrow." He said in his customary monotone.

He then proceeded to walk past the two, back into the house, without saying another word. Sakura stood rooted on the spot. Her heart slowing down to it's usual rate but giving a painful lurch. Perhaps she'd been disappointed with Sasuke's reaction towards her. It was cold, hard and calculating.

Hiro watched his uncle with curiosity then glanced back up to a frozen Sakura. He shook her waist gently, "Nee-chan?"

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and looked down to the boy, "Sorry Hiro-chan. Let's go inside. It's going to get cold tonight."

He didn't grin the usual way. He only nodded as his face contorted into a worried glance at his babysitter.

Gently she took his hand and led him back inside. He followed behind silently in fear he might upset Sakura.

After a while he built up the confidence to speak as Sakura led him to the living room, "Nee chan?"

"Hmmmmm?" She hummed out.

"Is there something going on between you and Oji-san?"

Sakura couldn't ignore the innocent curiosity clouding his voice. "Now what makes you say that, Hiro-chan?" She said brightly trying to mask her sadness.

"When you look at each other there's something between you. It's hard to explain."

Sakura smiled softly before looking down at the boy, "It's complicated."

He frowned; not quite understanding the 'Complicated issue'. Sakura laughed, "You see Hiro-chan. I loved your uncle as a child."

"You love him?!" Hiro shrieked out in disbelief.

"Loved." She corrected. "But your uncle then did something very stupid and ran off. I no longer love him the way I used to."

Most children wouldn't have noted the tone of sadness etched in her voice as if longing for something.

Hiro was not most children.

"You still love him, don't you nee-chan?"

Sakura startled by his response almost choked, "What?"

"When you talk about Sasuke Oji-san your eyes soften."

Sakura cursed the boy for being so mature and clever. "No they don't." She lied.

Before she could say more Hiro had added a comment that got her curious, "It's not like he dislikes you either."

Now what did Hiro mean by_ that_?

**…**

It was 9 when Hiro had fallen asleep after a round of Shogi with Sakura. The Konoichi took great care in tucking him into bed before giving him a small peck on the forehead. She didn't notice Sasuke standing by the doorway as he watched her motherly affections for his nephew.

When she did notice him she had been prepared to leave Hiro's room.

"Oh. You startled me Sasuke." She said quietly, whilst placing a hand on her chest.

He didn't say anything, just as he'd done in the garden. Instead he left the doorway before telling Sakura to come with him with a swift motion of his head.

She pouted, clearly unhappy with the way he was treating her. She couldn't quite understand his motives but followed him anyway. There was something she had to tell him after what Hiro had told her.

Sakura found herself sitting on the sofa with him sitting on the other end.

"Did you tell Naruto?" He asked without glancing her way.

She shook her head, "I haven't seen him today. I need to inform the Hokage first anyway."

He looked pleased by the news; his shoulder lowered a fraction as if he released the tension within his muscles.

"Sasuke. I have to warn you."

He tensed up again, "What is it?"

"There will be consequences for your return."

"I know that."

"It won't be that simple to accept you back into Konoha." She turned her body towards him, her hands folded in a lady like manner across her lap, "And you're dragging Misako and Hiro into this as well."

_That_ he didn't know. "What do you mean?"

Sakura sighed as if she knew that she would have to explain everything regarding the laws of Konoha. Things had changed ever since Sasuke left, of course he wouldn't know about the diplomatic situation within Konoha, "Nobody knew Misako was married to Uchiha Itachi so no one knows that part of the clan is still alive with the exception of you and your brother. Therefore under the laws of Konoha, ANBU are to be assigned to watch over Hiro until the Hokage deems him safe. "

He raised his eyebrows, "Safe?"

"They'll think he'll turn against Konoha." There was something in the tone of her voice that was directing something towards him. He understood it perfectly. Itachi had left Konoha after the massacre only to join the Akatsuki and he'd left Konoha for more power under the tutelage of Orochimaru. It was only natural for the Hokage to have suspicions' about Hiro's loyalty in the future.

"Misako is not a true clan member therefore she doesn't need to be observed. Until the Hokage gives the official word that Hiro is safe he won't be under protection as promised to all clan members of known households. That means once everyone's found out that Hiro is an Uchiha other villages might target him for his Sharingan and there won't be anything we can do but to blind him if we get the chance."

"But he doesn't have Sharingan." Sasuke argued bluntly.

"Not_ yet_." Sakura added in a remindful tone. "It doesn't mean that the enemy will not use this chance to provoke him into getting the Sharingan before kidnapping him without our knowledge. They'll be worried about Hiro but more concerned for you."

He raised his eyebrows again in a questioning manner before Sakura explained again, "You have the Sharingan. They'll most likely target you first. In addition the elders will be conflicted with accepting a 'traitor' back into Konoha as well as protecting you just to preserve the secrets of the Sharingan."

He frowned before Sakura added harshly, "You really fucked this one up Sasuke."

He_ knew_ he had fucked up. He _knew_ there would be consequences but he didn't know it would be this _bad_ to this extent.

"Shit." He hissed under his breath. He hadn't intended for this to happen. He hadn't intended for Konoha to know of his return. It was all Sakura's fault. She'd spotted him and decided to blab to the Hokage of his return.

Then again, the more he thought about it, he was the one who'd been careless and walked out into the hallway where she could see him and she was a Konohagakure Citizen so it was her duty to report anyway.

He glanced to her beside him and watched her fidget with the straps of her gloves. She too glanced up and met his eyes before she spoke, "Sasuke."

"What?"

"About this…I-I want to re-establish a relationship of Team 7 again."

He didn't want to but something about her voice seemed so out of the blue it made him waver.

"I know we didn't part on good terms but I'm sure it would be better to have some sort of relationship than to have bad blood." She said slowly. "I'm willing to forgive you and I'm sure Naruto is just as willing as me."

Sasuke eyes narrowed onto her features. He noticed the way she sat and the way she avoided his eyes. She was nervous and it didn't take long to figure out why. "You haven't talked to him have you?"

She shook her head, a little surprised that he would know, "I haven't seen anyone yet."

"And you're asking me to accept forgiveness on behalf of Naruto and Kakashi?"

"Yes, because Naruto's too much of an ass to admit it and Kakashi-sensei would say he wouldn't care." She explained half jokingly. "I understand if you don't want to re-establish a friendship but I'm urging you to think about it. Since we all share a common ground about protecting Misako and Hiro, it would be best if we could work together."

She had a good point. It was pointless to have a feud against someone who held the same thoughts and it would also make life a whole lot easier if he had an ally. He didn't need to think too much about the pros and cons of the relationship because there were more benefits.

"I agree."

Sakura looked up alarmed by his quick decision making. She had expected him to sleep on it, not make it up right now. "Eh?"

"Just don't let the dobe get in my way." He added in a monotone-like voice.

She couldn't help but let a smile spread to her face as her heart leapt up from her chest, "So…"

"I'm not coming back to Konoha though." He said quickly in case she had the wrong idea about everything.

She shook her head, the smile still on her face. "No, no, of course not. I understand why you chose to stay here; it's natural to do so." She assured. "I'm not expecting a lot from you but it's a good start, don't you think?"

"Hn."

Sakura smiled gently, glad she understood Sasuke better than most people to know that, that response meant an agreement. She'd been keen on putting the past behind her ever since she'd laid eyes on Sasuke since the three years of his absence. Who knew that she'd be forgetting the past so soon?

"Naruto's doing his apprenticeship to become Hokage you know."

Sasuke remained impassive. He wasn't surprised by the news. He always knew deep down inside that Naruto was capable of such things. If anyone could pull of becoming Hokage within his year it was definitely Naruto. The dobe had a strange way of getting people to become his friends no matter what kind of fucked up situation they were in. Sasuke had always envied that aspect of the blond Jinchuriki.

"Tsunade-Shishou reckons that he'll be able to complete the apprenticeship before winter. She always jokes about an early retirement but I think Naruto still has a long way to go." She grinned sheepishly as if she was talking to one of her closest friends or as if things had returned back to normalcy.

He felt tired tonight and was not keen on the idea of Sakura babbling about something he wouldn't be interested in. He yawned but Sakura didn't notice. "Sakura."

She stopped talking and glanced at him with large innocent doe-like eyes, "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

He noticed that she still added the annoying suffix at the end of his name but was secretly pleased at the idea that she was still 'into him'. He smirked, "You talk too much."

Sakura felt her face break out into a smile, unable to believe that Sasuke was finally slowly returning back to his normal attitude including sarcastic remarks. "Oh-Sorry I guess…"

Sasuke couldn't help but notice that when she smiled, her eyes lit up and made her face beam. He would never admit that her smile was breathtaking as it had ever been.

If it was anyone who could blow someone away with a flash of pearly teeth and curved pouty lips it was definitely Sakura Haruno. It was not just Sasuke who was seemingly affected by her smiles, everyone in Konoha was taken into it too, not that Sakura noticed. Or course Sasuke didn't know this but he was now silently scolding himself for thinking up such thoughts.

But her smiles, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief at seeing them again and he loathed to admit that it was just what he needed and that it just made his world seem a little brighter and lively.

Perhaps, this had been one of the best decisions he'd made in his life so far, now all he had to do was prove himself right, starting with Sakura.

* * *

A/N: As I said. Short and random but just for confirmation this chapter is mainly based loosely on a developing relationship with Uncle and Nephew as well as renewing relationships with old comrades and friends. There will be more drama in later Chapters (I have recently started typing up later chapters and I'm still tingling with adrenaline from writing them) so stay tuned in for more!

Review, Favourite and Follow! An author can never get enough of those!


	5. Capture

**A/N: I'm back! After having a very long summer holiday I can say that I'm back feeling refreshed though the down side is I'm sure that my brain has pretty much turned to mush. Because of this I have been stuck with a writers block which has been pissing me off to no end, thus the reason why this chapter is shorter than the other 4 and probably also less exciting than usual. **

**On recent news though Naruto Shippuden has been getting more exciting and serious now! THe epic-ness of Kishimoto never ceases to amaze me!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

**To Find Love **

**Chapter 5 – Capture**

The next day, during mid afternoon, when she was off nursing duty, Sakura hesitantly made her way towards the dreaded Hokage tower. Suddenly the building which Sakura had been working in almost every day looked almost haunted and eerie. Perhaps its was because the thought that there would be a very enraged Hokage later on.

Either way, Sakura saw no possible escape for her impending death.

_Aaahhh, as there was so much I wanted to do as well… _she thought sadly in a comical manner whilst letting out a huff of air.

Last night the discussion with Sasuke had more or less been about what he would do once she told the Hokage of the situation at hand. They considered the possibilities of his 'punishment' and decided the best course of action that could happen was that ANBU were to watch over Hiro whilst Sasuke was detained and interrogated by Morino Ibiki.

The worst case scenario was that Sasuke could receive the death penalty whilst Hiro would be blinded for life or imprisoned until his Sharingan would develop. Whatever happened though, Sasuke was prepared to face. The plan had been simple. Sakura would tell the Hokage tomorrow afternoon and Sasuke would be ready for whatever would happen to him. Though the question remained whether Hiro and Misako would be okay with the arrangement…

"_What will you tell Misako and Hiro?" Sakura asked softly, throwing on her winter coat before preparing to leave. She threw him a worried look; after all she couldn't predict what next crazy move he would do next if the outcome was as predicted._

"_Whatever necessary."_

Sakura sighed to herself as she recalled the very short conversation they had last night, his response had left her feeling uneasy, Misako was vulnerable to so many things if wording wasn't selected carefully.

Within minutes Sakura finally found herself standing outside the Hokage's office. It hadn't even occurred to her that she'd been walking up the Hokage tower itself.

She inhaled and exhaled before she proceeded to rat her knuckled fist gently against the door.

There was some clattering from the other side of the door before the Hokage's gruff voice came through, "Come in."

Sakura stepped in and knelt in the fashion that ANBU did when greeting the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama."

Pushing mountains and stacks of paper work aside the Hokage's face became visible. "Ah, Sakura, what brings you to my office on this fine day? Shouldn't you be out and about since it's your day off the hospital?" the esteemed Godaime questioned towards the kneeling pink haired Konoichi.

Standing up, Sakura exhaled with relief that the legendary Sannin was in a good mood, nevertheless she hated to be the bearer of bad news that would unleash the eruption of the beloved Godaime. Silently she stood up to her full height and gazed up to her mentor. The Hokage's relatively tall form of 5ft 3 now was in jeopardy to Sakura's own height of 5ft 2. The 1 centimetre difference however, was enough to intimidate Sakura.

"I am here to report that there has been a slight complication with a citizen."

Tsunade's butterscotch coloured eyes narrowed down onto the Konoichi in front of her. "What complication?"

Sakura tried to avoid the piercing gaze of her Shishou by looking towards the ground, "Well you see…" she trailed off to think of how she would phrase the next words carefully but realized there could be no simpler way to state the facts. With a defeated sigh Sakura uttered out the next words with hesitation, "Sasuke Uchiha…is back in Konoha."

Immediately the Godaime's eyes flew wide open as she turned to Sakura, her blond hair whipping around in the air with a violent swish, "What?"

"I have seen him in Konoha."

"Sakura, are you sure? I have upped the security around the gates and none of them have reported an intruder. I have ANBU scouting the area at this very moment and they haven't reported a suspicious intruder either."

Sakura shook her head, "I am sure."

"Where?" Tsunade demanded. "Why didn't you take him down on sight?"

"There are complications like I said."

Now angry, Tsunade grabbed Sakura roughly by the shoulder and shook her vigorously, "What complications could there possibly be?! Sasuke is a missing–nin that's now considered and international criminal! How could you let him get away?! Was it because of your unresolved feelings for him? You know the rules Sakura, I taught you better than this!" There was a tone of sheer disappointment in the Godaime's voice that Sakura did not fail to miss under the anger.

"Tsunade-sama, if you would just listen to me-"

The Godaime released Sakura and proceeded to yell in the office next door, "Shizune!"

Immediately the medic-nin appeared out from the room, her face looking more serious than usual and TonTon currently out of her arm only to be replaced with thick paperwork. "Yes Tsunade-sama?"

"Security has been breached." She informed. Shizune's eyes widened with alarm at the news. "Give word to every Shinobi to be on guard, this is now a Level 2 emergency and bring me Shikamaru Nara!" The Hokage demanded, her voice loud and bellowing.

Confused but understanding that something very bad must've happened Shizune stiffened at the order but answered with a salute, "Yes! Hokage-sama!"

Sakura suddenly finding herself in a commotion, began to panic, she reached out for the Hokage who was making her way back to her desk, "Wait, Tsunade-Shishou!"

Shizune, who was making her way towards the door, paused and remained in the room in case the order would be cancelled, her sharp eyes picking up Sakura's distressed features and noting that the situation was far worse than comprehended.

The blonde turned to Sakura with flaming eyes, "What is it?"

"I haven't explained something yet."

The Hokage exhaled forcefully unable to believe that her apprentice was taking everything so calmly. It was a Stage 2 emergency!

She made her way round her desk and sat down behind on the chair with thump; leaning over she rested her elbows on the table and she had her hands clasped together as she waited for Sakura to speak.

Sakura cleared her dry throat, "Well you see, Sasuke hasn't really come into the main city of Konoha, he is living on the outskirts with a civilian and her son."

She couldn't really go into further detail until the Godaime had calmed down.

Tsunade sighed again, her head dropping in disappointment. "Sakura I don't see the problem here. You are wasting value time in which several Shinobi could be after him right now."

Sakura had no choice but to put it in other words that was sure to set off the raging Hokage, "The civilian is Itachi Uchiha's wife."

That was when everything happened simultaneously.

Shizune gasped clapping her hands to her mouth in disbelief as the papers in her hands fell and scattered all over the floor like a pile of leaves.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed dangerously to meet Sakura's innocent and scared doe-like eyes.

Nothing was said for a while as the three women began to debate mentally about what to do. Shizune was considering quitting her job knowing she had to deal with the bitching Hokage whilst Sakura was mentally preparing a list of items for when she ran away.

Sakura flinched when the Hokage placed her hands on the desk and rose from her seat with a deadly aura that was sure to give the message that she was ready to murder anything alive, "What is the meaning of this?"

Shizune who had finally come back to her senses began to approach the Hokage's side. She placed firm hands on the Hokage's stiff shoulders, "Calm down Tsunade-sama."

Ignoring her assistant, the Hokage peaked over to Sakura who flinched again, "Sakura you'd better tell me everything in detail. Miss anything out and I will burn you alive."

Sakura gulped. Forget running away; the Hokage would have already killed her before she could even reach the gates. Mentally Sakura began preparing herself a grave.

**…**

"Okaa-san! We're hungry!" Hiro yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Beside him his uncle frowned up at the stairs deep in thought for what his sister in law could possibly be doing that took this long.

_What the hell is wrong with her?_

Finally a figure slumped out from the bathroom and Hiro groaned in exasperation. "Okaaaaaaaa-san!" He whined.

Misako, who was grinning sheepishly slowly descended down the stairs and apologised to her pouting son. "Sorry Hiro. I just feel a little queasy this morning."

Hiro looked up to his mum who had finally reached the bottom of the stairs and ruffled his hair in an affectionate manner. "What does queasy mean?" He asked softly.

She clicked her tongue upon remembering her son hadn't quite mastered the complicated words just yet, "Sick. It means sick."

"Why are you ill?" He asked with childlike innocence.

"Okaa-san is tired." She replied simply. "I'll be better in a few days."

Sasuke, however, wouldn't buy any of it, "How long have you been like this?"

Misako shot him a reproachful glare, "Not long."

Not intimidated in the least he shot her back a challenging glare which only lasted for about a minute or so before Hiro happily tugged against his mum's apron.

"Okaa-san. We're hungry." He repeated gently.

Misako glanced down to her son whose eyes had drooped with sadness like he was an abused puppy. She chuckled softly, reaching down to ruffle his hair again, "I'm sorry. I'll get to that right away, sweetie."

Hiro still looked miserable as if expecting more. His mother sighed and relented by saying that she would make him a batch of pancakes and waffles for breakfast.

Sasuke watched as the boys face lit up instantly and noted how his golden eyes followed his mum's moving form into the kitchen. Apparently, Itachi's liking for sweet treats had been passed onto his son, which was interesting.

"Sasuke-kun, is there anything you want for breakfast?" Misako called behind her.

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply before Hiro interrupted, "Oji-san will have the same as me!"

The ebony haired man shot a glance at his nephew who grinned back, "What if I don't want pancakes and waffles?"

He'd always disliked sweet foods. His parents had always insured that as a child he wasn't addicted to them. Even till this day, the values that his mother and father had installed into the household were hard to get rid of. In his eyes sweet treats were fattening and unnecessary. No one in the Uchiha clan liked sweets particularly, except for Itachi.

"Oji-san, it's bad to waste food. You'll have to eat it all up." Hiro teased lightly with a forming malicious grin appearing on his innocent and usually angelic features.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "What are you planning?"

"An eating contest. Whoever finishes their breakfast first has to do what the other says."

As a child Sasuke never participated in such events when challenged, especially the ones Naruto always suggested because he thought they were stupid. So why would he start now?

"I'm not interested."

Hiro grinned as if he'd been expecting the answer from his pessimistic uncle and then he leered, "A 'chicken' in the Uchiha clan, huh?"

Chicken? Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously onto the small boy next to him. _The little…_

"Out of all the people, I never thought it'd be you Oji-san." Hiro remarked casually as he turned to leave for the kitchen with an even more malicious grin pasted on his face that Sasuke saw very briefly.

_Damn it_. The boy knew exactly how to push his buttons. Sasuke gritted his teeth together in an attempt to calm himself down. After all, there was no point in getting riled up by a three year-

"Are you coming or what, chicken?" Hiro casually hollered from across the hallway without turning around.

An eye twitched in anger and a vein throbbed on his temple in annoyance as he ground his molars together.

That did it. Aged three or not, Sasuke was going to show this kid just who he was. No kid mocked the high and mighty Sasuke Uchiha and got away with it without consequences. _No one_.

Mentally he began to curse Itachi for producing such a sly and cunning brat.

He hadn't actually announced that he'd be participating in the contest; however when the two sat down in their respected places opposite each other, they scrutinized each other under their dark gazes. Uchiha Genius verses Uchiha Prodigy. It was clear, the challenge was on.

As soon as the oblivious Misako put down their plates, the two males tensed with anticipation. Sasuke picked up his fork and watched as Hiro did the same. The two never removed their eyes from each other as their hands tightened around the fork and knife.

Misako smiled unaware, of the murderous atmosphere, emanating from Sasuke, "Enjoy." Then she put down the condiments of Syrup, Honey and Cream down before turning to leave for the kitchen once again.

As soon as her back disappeared behind the kitchen curtains the challenge had begun.

**…**

"Naruto!"

The blond, who was walking around town with his arms folded casually behind his head, turned around at the sound of his name. He broke out into one of his happiest smiles when he caught sight of his pink haired teammate running towards him.

"Sakura-chan!" He greeted back enthusiastically.

When the young girl in question caught up to her friend she doubled over, resting her palms on her knees as she caught her breath back. Naruto blinked and glanced down curiously at the Konoichi, "You okay?"

"Y-yeah. Just been doing a lot." She breathed heavily before standing up to her full height. "Naruto."

His face remained curious at his teammate, "Yeah?"

Sakura grabbed his hand and tugged him along with her as they headed off somewhere, "Come with me."

Baby blue eyes widened in surprise at the sudden actions, "What? Wait, Sakura-chan! Where are we going?"

"Talk later, come with me."

"But-"

"Now." She growled out in a manner that shut the blond Jinchuriki up as he let her drag him along the streets of Konoha.

Then his lips opened in surprise, completely misinterpreting her actions for something else. "Are we going out on a date, Sakura-chan?!" He exclaimed with excitement.

A prompt but painful punch to the top of his head answered his question. Naruto howled in pain as he clutched at his abused head whilst sitting on the ground. Sakura only glanced down at him as her eyebrows twitched dangerously. One hand rested on the soft curve of her hip and the other she was raising up in the air as her tightly clenched fist shook violently, "Shut up, Naruto."

He glanced up to his first love and gave her a puppy beaten look, "That really hurt Sakura-chan…" then his face was back to normal as he regarded the situation at hand. "But if it's not that, then what is it?" He asked softly, hands lowering to grip his ankles.

Sakura lowered her offending fist as her features saddened. Naruto's eyes didn't miss this and immediately he was up and demanding to know what was wrong.

Sakura shook her head, "Naruto, you'll just have to see for yourself before the ANBU get to him."

Once again Naruto had observed her wording; there was a male person involved. Puzzled, Naruto pressed on, "Who?"

Sakura was speechless but forced the guilty words out of her mouth, "I-I can't tell you. You wouldn't believe me."

She couldn't bring herself to tell Naruto.

Naruto frowned at his teammate, displeased and hurt that she had so little faith in his belief in her even after all these years they had endured together. He slowly reached out the place his hands on her shoulder as a sign of reassurance only to be suddenly grabbed by his wrist and proceeding to be dragged off, out the gates of Konoha and into a hidden forest path.

Naruto yelped in surprise before managing to catch himself. "Sa-" He was cut off when he heard her mumble something.

"I'm so sorry Naruto… I didn't want it to be like this."

"What?"

When Sakura didn't reply Naruto decided the best course of actions was to remain quiet as he allowed himself to be dragged by his teammate. Sakura prayed that before the ANBU got to Sasuke, Naruto would at least see their estranged teammate in a setting where everything wouldn't be so…guarded. Furthermore, Tsunade had only given a couple of minutes to spare for Sakura to explain the situation. She had to use this chance before Naruto would find out some other way - of Sasuke's appearance in Konoha - and effectively go against the Godaime's words of detaining Sasuke.

However as if fate were working against Sakura, halfway through the forest the recon team came into view and were heading towards the pair. Wrapped and bound by ropes behind them was the one face Sakura had hoped not to see.

Beside her Naruto could only glance around in confusion until his eyes landed on a very familiar face. His jaw dropped as his brain tried to process what his eyes were taken in. Dark onyx eyes flickered from the floor to meet stunned baby blues and apologetic mint green eyes.

Only one word escaped Naruto's parted lips, "Sasuke…"

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A/N: What will happen next? Hehehe, the joys of cliffhangers. In any case I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be a lot more exciting and longer which will make up for this sad excuse of a chapter.

Reviews appreciated!


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